cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Location of diastolic potentials in reentrant circuits causing sustained ventricular tachycardia in the infarcted canine heart: relationship to predicted critical ablation sites.

Background—The complete reentrant circuit for ablation of reentrant ventricular tachycardia (VT) in humans can rarely be localized by mapping. As a result, surrogate markers, such as diastolic electrical activity, subsequently confirmed by entrainment, have been used. However, ablation at those sites has had variable efficacy. The reasons for this variability are not clear. Methods and Results—We correlated activation maps of reentrant circuits in the epicardial border zone of 4-day old infarcted dog hearts with the corresponding ECGs for 45 VTs to determine the regions of the reentrant circuits activated during diastole. In VTs with a figure-8 reentrant pattern, the center point of the central common pathway, the part of the circuit critical for the maintenance of reentry, was activated in early diastole in 32 of 35 VTs (91.4%), in late diastole in 1 (2.9%), and in systole in 2 (5.7%). Regions outside the circuit were rarely activated in diastole. In 10 VTs, the reentrant circuit was characterized by a s...
Humans Immunized with Streptococcus mutans Antigens by Mucosal Routes

Strategies aimed at the prevention of Streptococcus mutans infection and dental caries include mucosal immunization, which results in salivary anti-S. mutans responses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of nasal vs. tonsillar immunization with S. mutans antigens in inducing salivary immune responses. Twenty-one adult subjects were immunized twice, within a seven-day interval, with a glucosyltransferase-enriched preparation (E-GTF) administered by nasal or tonsillar topical spray. Parotid saliva, nasal wash, and serum were collected prior to and at one- to two-week intervals for 3 months following immunization and were assayed by ELISA for anti-E-GTF activity. Results were analyzed by means of the mixed-models procedure with p < 0.05 level of significance. Significantly higher anti-E-GTF responses were detected in saliva and nasal wash samples from the group immunized by the nasal compared with the tonsillar route, indicating that nasal immunization was more effective in inducing mucosal responses in adults.
Attentional capture and attentional character

Attentional character is a way of thinking about what is relevant in a human life, what is meaningful and how it becomes so. This paper introduces the concept of attentional character through a redefinition of attentional capture as achievement. It looks freshly at the attentional capture debate in the current cognitive sciences literature through the lens of Aron Gurwitsch’s gestalt-phenomenology. Attentional character is defined as an initially limited capacity for attending in a given environment and is located within the sphere of attention, primarily as an irrelevant centering in attending.
Light and electron microscopy of skeletal muscle in type IV glycogenosis.

Skeletal muscles from a patient with type IV glycogenosis were studied by light and electron microscopy. The distinctive polysaccharide deposits were more abundant in the tongue and diaphragm than other skeletal muscles. The involved myofibers contained fusiform areas filled with polyhedral or rounded granules of basophilic material that was further characterized by staining with periodic acid-Schiff, Grocott methenamine silver and alcian blue. Ultrastructurally the deposits were composed of branched filaments, osmophilic granules and electron-dense amorphous material. There are sufficient ultrastructural, histochemical and chemical similarities among the deposits in type IV glycogenosis, Lafora bodies and visceral deposits in myoclonus epilepsy, corpora amylacea and basophilic degeneration of the myocardium to suggest a common composition and mechanism of synthesis possibly through reversal of the debranching enzyme system. However, sharing a biochemical pathway does not necessarily imply a common etiological factor.
University of Illinois active vision system

This paper describes an active vision system which employs two high-resolution cameras for image acquisition. The system is capable of automatically directing movements of the cameras so that camera positioning and image acquisition are tightly coupled with visual processing. The system was developed as a research tool and is largely based on off-the-shelf components. A central workstation controls imaging parameters, which include five degrees of freedom for camera positioning (tilt, pan, translation, and independent vergence) and six degrees of freedom for the control of two motorized lenses (focus, aperture, and zoom). This paper is primarily concerned with describing the hardware of the system, the imaging model, and the calibration method employed. A brief description of system software is also given.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Interactions between the immune system and the bovine conceptus

Abstract Immunological rejection of the bovine conceptus is blocked, in part, because of reduced expression of major histocompatibility (MHC) antigens on the surface of the conceptus. Also, an intrauterine environment is created during pregnancy in which maternal tissues and trophoblast secrete lymphocyte-inhibitory molecules that reduce immune reactivity. Data from other species suggest that there are also specific changes in functional activity of maternal lymphocyte populations during pregnancy that lead to 1) redirection of immune responses away from cellular immunity, 2) transient tolerance to conceptus antigens, and 3) activation of specific lymphocyte populations involved in immunosuppression or release of cytokines that stimulate placental function. Bovine trophoblast is potentially a target for maternal cytokines because placental cells express receptors for colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) and can be stimulated to proliferate in culture by lymphocyte-conditioned culture medium. Some degree of maternal recognition of conceptus antigens may be beneficial for the final stages of parturition because retained placenta occurs more frequently when dam and calf share MHC class I antigens. Methods to manipulate immunological function to enhance reproductive function remain speculative only — possibilities include alteration of uterine immune responses to reduce early embryonic mortality or to affect placental function, prevention of abortion caused by viral infection, enhancement of uterine antimicrobial defense mechanisms and reduction in frequency of retained placenta.
The Encyclopedist and the Peruvian Princess: The Poetics of Illegibility in French Enlightenment Book Culture

This study focuses on the French Enlightenment’s fascination with the materiality of non-Western and nonalphabetic scripts in the broader context of the history of the book. By examining definitions of writing in the Encyclopedie as well as Francoise de Graffigny’s novelistic appropriation of the Inca quipu script in Lettres d’une Peruvienne (1747), I argue that there emerges from these texts a conception of the literary sign capable of challenging the fundamental principles of the Enlightenment printed book: dematerialized textuality and absolute legibility. Shaped by the scriptural imagination of eighteenth-century book culture, literature was able to acquire full aesthetic legitimacy only insofar as it was defined as the other of the purely semantic text. (LP)
Synthesis and Characterization of Bis-bicyclo[1.1.0] but-1-ylmercury

Abstract Bicyclo[1.1.0]but-1-yllithium·N,N,N′,N′-tetra-methylethylenediamine (TMEDA) provides a convenient starting point for the synthesis of bis-bicyclo[1.1.0]-but-1-ylmercury and possibly other organometallic bicyclobutane compounds. The synthesis of bis-bicyclo-butylmercury and characterization by proton magnetic resonance of bis-bicyclobutylmercury and bicyclobutyllithium·TMEDA are reported.
The Greening of Political Science: Growth Pains and New Directions

Over the past decade, interdisciplinary programs such as gender studies, global studies, and environmental studies have proliferated quickly across the American academy. One study showed that the number of environmental studies programs at four-year colleges and universities doubled between 1990 and 1995, and more are still being added. Political science departments frequently find themselves at the center of these new programs, and courses in environmental politics are often in high demand among students. The complexity and persistence of environmental problems is finally forcing the academy to recognize the importance of interdisciplinary research and teaching. Consider the case of global warming. It is impossible to discuss this issue intelligently from the perspective of any single discipline. Political scientists might illuminate certain facets of the debate, such as how national and international political structures create few incentives for policymakers to aggressively address the issue. But however important such insights might be, they are far too narrow to even begin to encompass the complexity of the climate change issue, which requires literacy in the discourses of other disciplines, including environmental economics, atmospheric research, and environmental ethics. After decades of suspicion in the academy about the intellectual rigor of interdisciplinary approaches, the persistence of complex environmental problems, and simply the rapidly growing cohort of scholars engaged in environmental research and teaching, is driving increasing acceptance of such approaches. Philip Brick received the APSA's Pi Sigma Alpha Award for Outstanding Teaching in Political Science in 2000, and in 2004 he was named Outstanding Environmental Educator by the Environmental Education Association of Washington. His environmental field program is described at www.whitman.edu/semester_west, and he can be contacted at brick@whitman.edu. The author thanks Jennifer Hochschild at Perspectives on Politics and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this essay. He also thanks the research assistants at Perspectives on Politics and Whitman College student Kalin Schmoldt for gathering syllabi for this review.
PSEUDODUCTILITY OF FIBER REINFORCED CONCRETE

This paper presents the findings of an investigation to determine the load‐deformation response of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) subjected to standard flexural (ASTM C‐1018) and split‐tension (ASTM C‐496) tests with the objective of studying the correspondence between the FRC tensile properties obtained with the two methods. This comparison is desirable since split‐tension performed on cores or cylinders could be preferable to the more common flexure test with regard to ease of specimen collection or fabrication, and testing. In this study, a total of 17 fiber types from the United States, Europe, and Japan are used at two or more different volume contents. In terms of pseudoductility, it is found that the flexural test effectively differentiates between fiber content and type. On the contrary, the instrumented split‐tension test, with deformation measured along the horizontal diameter (perpendicular to the load plane), shows a flat postcracking response that is almost independent of fiber content and t...
The Influence of Altered Rainfall Regimes on Early Season N Partitioning Among Early Phenology Annual Plants, a Late Phenology Shrub, and Microbes in a Semi-arid Ecosystem

In Mediterranean-type ecosystems, nitrogen (N) accumulates in soil during dry summer months and rapidly becomes available during early season rain events. The availability of early season N could depend on the size of rainfall events, soil microbial activity, and phenology of the plant community. However, it is poorly understood how precipitation patterns affect the fate of early season N. Microbes and plants with early phenology may compete strongly for early season N but theory suggests that microbial N storage can meet plant N demands later in the season. Using a 15N tracer and rainfall manipulation we investigated the fate of early season N. N allocation patterns differed substantially between microbes, early and late phenology plants. As expected early phenology annuals and microbes took up 15N, within 1 day, whereas a late-phenology shrub allocated 15N to leaves later in the season. We saw no evidence for microbial storage of early season N; the peak of 15N in shrub leaves did not coincide with detectable levels of 15N in the microbial biomass or labile soil pool. This suggests that shrubs were able to access early season N, store and allocate it for growth later in the season. Although we saw no evidence of microbial N storage, N retention in soil organic matter (SOM) was high and microbes may play an important role in sequestering N to SOM. Plant N uptake did not respond significantly to 1 year of rainfall manipulation, but microbes were sensitive to dry conditions. 1 year after 15N addition shrubs had resorbed up to half of the N from leaves whereas N in annuals remained as dead leaf litter. Differences in end-of-season N partitioning between dead and living biomass in the two vegetation types suggest that plant species composition could affect N availability in the following growing season, but it may take several years of altered precipitation patterns to produce rainfall-dependent changes.
Fast and efficient black box optimization using the parameter-less population pyramid

The parameter-less population pyramid P3 is a recently introduced method for performing evolutionary optimization without requiring any user-specified parameters. P3's primary innovation is to replace the generational model with a pyramid of multiple populations that are iteratively created and expanded. In combination with local search and advanced crossover, P3 scales to problem difficulty, exploiting previously learned information before adding more diversity. Across seven problems, each tested using on average 18 problem sizes, P3 outperformed all five advanced comparison algorithms. This improvement includes requiring fewer evaluations to find the global optimum and better fitness when using the same number of evaluations. Using both algorithm analysis and comparison, we find P3's effectiveness is due to its ability to properly maintain, add, and exploit diversity. Unlike the best comparison algorithms, P3 was able to achieve this quality without any problem-specific tuning. Thus, unlike previous parameter-less methods, P3 does not sacrifice quality for applicability. Therefore we conclude that P3 is an efficient, general, parameter-less approach to black box optimization which is more effective than existing state-of-the-art techniques.
Osteoclast formation is related to bone matrix age.

Little is known about the relationship between the age of the skeleton and the development of multinucleated bone-resorbing cells, osteoclasts. It has been shown that mineralized bone implanted onto the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) is effective in the recruitment and differentiation of osteoclast precursors. In studies reported here we used the CAM system to examine the influence of bone matrix age on osteoclast formation. Devitalized mineralized bone particles (75–250 μm) were prepared from rats of various ages (2, 4, 9, 12, and 16 months). The particles were implanted onto the chick chorioallantoic membrane and 8 days later implants were harvested and processed for morphometric or immunohistochemical analysis. Osteoclast number, cell area, nucleocytoplasmic ratio, and the presence of a distinctive osteoclast antigen, defined by the 121F monoclonal antibody, were determined. Bone particles of each age group resulted in the formation of osteoclast-like giant cells. Compared with multinucleated cells that formed in response to bone particles obtained from 2-month-old rats, matrix from the oldest age group (16 months) elicited significantly fewer and smaller cells which contained a smaller number of nuclei. These data suggest that with aging, bone undergoes qualitative and/or quantitative changes that affect the recruitment and differentiation of osteoclast precursor cells.
Phosphate Enhances Regulated Thin Filament Velocity at Acidic pH in the Motility Assay

Elevated levels of inorganic phosphate (Pi) and hydrogen ions (H+) are putative agents of muscle fatigue. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying their inhibitory action on the contractile proteins remains unclear. To gain mechanistic insight into the effects of these ions on the myofilament function, we studied their impact on the velocity-pCa relationship in an in vitro motility assay. In this assay, actin filaments reconstituted with fast skeletal troponin (Tn) and tropomyosin (Tm) moved on a coverslip surface coated with skeletal myosin. At saturating Ca2+ (pCa5), decreasing the pH from 7.4 to 6.8 and 6.5 significantly (p<0.05) reduced filament velocity by 47 and 95%, respectively. In addition, filament velocity was depressed at any given submaximal Ca2+ level with the effect significantly more pronounced at pH 6.5 vs 6.8. However, the pCa50 increased significantly (p<0.05) when the pH was reduced from 7.4 to 6.8 (6.76±0.07 vs. 7.62±0.14) but was not significantly affected at pH 6.5 (6.62±0.82). This suggests a complex relationship between pH and Ca2+-sensitivity. The addition of Pi had no effect on filament velocity at pH 7.4 but significantly reversed the acidosis-induced depression in velocity at both pH 6.8 and 6.5, at every level of Ca2+ from pCa 7.0 to pCa 5.0. The addition of Pi also increased the pCa50 at pH 6.5 from 6.62±0.82 to 7.74±0.20. The effects of these ions on regulated thin filament velocity are significantly more pronounced than those observed with unregulated actin filaments (Debold et al., 2011); therefore, we are now attempting to identify the structural regions responsible by assessing the functional impact of structural alterations to key regions of Tn.
Microcomputer database management systems for bibliographic data

Relatively little microcomputer software has been designed specifically for the storage and retrieval of bibliographic data. Information retrieval packages for mainframes and minicomputers have been scaled down to run on microcomputers, however, these programs are expensive, unwieldy, and inflexible. For this reason, microcomputer database management systems (DBMS) are often used as an alternative. In this article, criteria for evaluating DBMS used for the storage and retrieval of bibliographic data are discussed. Two popular types of microcomputer DBMS, file management systems and relational database management systems, are evaluated with respect to these criteria. File management systems are appropriate when a relatively small number of simple records are to be stored, and retrieval time for multi‐valued data items is not a critical factor. Relational database management systems are indicated when large numbers of complex records are to be stored, and retrieval time for multi‐valued data items is critical. However, successful use of relational database management systems often requires programming skills.
Occurence and implications of radiation dose-rate effects for material aging studies☆

Abstract A number of commercial cable materials, including ethylene propylene rubber and crosslinked polyolefin insulations and chloroprene and chlorosulfonated polyethylene jackets have been radiation aged in air and nitrogen at radiation dose rates ranging from approximately 10 3 to 10 6 rad hr . Material degradation was followed using ultimate tensile properties (elongation and tensile strength), swelling measurements and infrared spectroscopy. The tensile results indicate that in air environments radiation dose rate effects are important for all four materials, with more mechanical damage occurring as the dose rate is lowered. These results are interpreted as coming from a competition between crosslinking and oxidative scission in which scission becomes more important as the dose rate is lowered. The swelling results offer direct evidence in support of this interpretation. In addition the infrared results show increased carbonyl content at lower dose rates, also indicative of increased oxidation. The conclusions of this study have important implications for the qualification of elastomeric materials for nuclear applications, since they clearly indicate that the mechanism of degradation is quite different (and the amount usually more severe) under low dose rate exposures compared to the mechanism occurring under the high dose rate exposures normally utilized for stimulating the natural aging.
Assessing maintenance of evaporative cooling systems in Legionellosis outbreaks

This study was designed to conduct systematic reviews of existing evaporative cooling system maintenance guidelines and of published Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks to determine what, if any, maintenance practices were in place at the time of the disease outbreaks and then to contrast the reported practices with the published guidelines for evaporative cooling systems. For the first review, similarities in the reported recommendations were assessed; in the second review, any reported information about the state of the evaporative cooling system during the outbreak investigation was summarized. The systematic reviews yielded 38 current guidelines for evaporative cooling systems and 38 published outbreak investigations. The guidelines varied regarding the recommended type and dose of biocides, frequency of general inspections and total system maintenance, the preferred disinfection and cleaning procedures when testing a system for microbiological contamination, the type and frequency of testing procedures, ...
Horizontal Violence and the Quality and Safety of Patient Care: A Conceptual Model

For many years, nurses in international clinical and academic settings have voiced concern about horizontal violence among nurses and its consequences. However, no known framework exists to guide research on the topic to explain these consequences. This paper presents a conceptual model that was developed from four theories to illustrate how the quality and safety of patient care could be affected by horizontal violence. Research is needed to validate the new model and to gather empirical evidence of the consequences of horizontal violence on which to base recommendations for future research, education, and practice.
Low-power and robust on-chip thermal sensing using differential ring oscillators

The increasing significance of thermal issues in modern VLSI motivates the need for a large number of lightweight, robust and power efficient thermal sensors for accurate thermal mapping and management. We propose use of differential ring oscillators (DRO) for thermal sensing, utilizing the temperature dependence of the oscillation frequency. In current starved inverter topology using the 45 nm technology node, they have a resolution of 2degC and a low active power consumption of less than 25 muW which can be reduced further by 60-80% by gating the design. A high threshold design proves to be better in terms of leakage, non-linearity error, overall power consumption as well as sensitivity to power supply variations. The standard deviation in measurement (%) caused by process variations and supply noise is within 3% for low Vt design; it increases to 5% for a high Vt design. In a reduced supply bounce configuration, the measurement error caused due to supply noise can be reduced by 15-60%.
The prevalence and technical quality of endodontic treatment in an American subpopulation

Few data have been collected regarding the prevalence and quality of root canal therapy in American populations. European studies of various populations were used as a model for the evaluation of the prevalence and technical standard of endodontic treatment in a patient group seen for screening at a United States dental school. Full-mouth radiographic series were examined for the presence of root fillings, periapical pathologic conditions, and coronal restorative status. The obturation density and length were also recorded. Of 5272 teeth examined, 5.5% had root fillings. Periapical disease was evident in 4.1% of all teeth and 31.3% of root-filled teeth. Lesser-quality root fillings were more strongly associated with periapical disease than were higher-quality obturations. In addition, only 42% of the obturations could be considered technically satisfactory. Such data suggests that more research must be directed toward the study of factors that affect treatment outcome.
An examination of interdependencies among major barriers to coordination in disaster response

This paper reports two exploratory research studies conducted to identify major barriers to coordination in disaster response and to understand causal relationships among those barriers. In the first study, two expert panels (emergency operations centre directors and firefighters) participated in a Delphi survey to identify and prioritise major barriers. In the second study, five focus group sessions were conducted with state and parish (county) emergency operations centre directors and response professionals. Each group created a conceptual map of major barriers and the causal relationships among them. Results are integrated in a Coordination Barrier Classification Framework that incorporates the relative importance and interdependencies among the six major barriers (planning, resources, training, chain of command, politics, and communication). Differences by stakeholder group are also identified. Preliminary implications and avenues for future research are suggested.
Post-Processing Effect on the Fatigue Behavior of Three Titanium Alloys under Simulated SPF Conditions

This experimental study investigates a post-Superplastic Forming (SPF) processing method with reduced material removal requirements and its effect on high-cycle fatigue behavior. Comprehensive high-cycle fatigue experiments were conducted on three titanium alloys in part to validate the proposed post process and in part to provide baseline properties for evaluating additional materials. High-Cycle Fatigue results indicated that lower temperature superplastic forming conditions allow more efficient use of titanium material. Manufacturing process designers needing to predict the best SPF conditions and establish design allowables for titanium alloys may find the results of this research useful.
Patient safety climate among orthopaedic surgery residents.

Patient safety has attained a higher profile since the Institute of Medicine's report, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System , was distributed in 20001. This report suggested that many hospital errors were related to flaws within the health-care delivery system. Many organizations—aviation, nuclear power, the military, and some industries—have realized that safe systems are essential for creating a barrier between human errors and adverse events2. Organizations with systems designed to minimize errors, prevent adverse events, and produce reliable outcomes despite intrinsic risks have been termed highly reliable organizations 2,3. Health-care institutions are now being challenged by both internal and external forces to become highly reliable organizations by applying systems-based approaches to address patient safety. One of the key factors in the transformation of health-care institutions into patient-safety-focused, highly reliable organizations is the development and maintenance of a positive patient safety climate within the institution. In a systematic review of the literature, safety climate has been defined as “the surface features of the safety culture discerned from the workforce's attitudes and perceptions at a given point in time. … It is a snapshot of the state of safety providing an indicator of the underlying safety culture of a work group, plant or organization.”4 As extrinsic pressures build and government and public scrutiny increase, delivery of dependable and safe patient care with consistent outcomes will be demanded from health-care organizations. Training new members of the health-care delivery system to adopt and maintain a safety climate will be a critical component of the transformation of health-care delivery into a highly reliable organization. The purpose of this study was to identify the baseline safety climate in orthopaedic surgical residents and track its trends in trainees over time. ### Measures Safety climate was measured by a modified …
A Comparison of Reading Measures as Indicators of Risk across Grade Levels

The purpose of this study was to assess relationships between early literacy skills of at-risk students assessed with curriculum-based and norm-referenced measures. Participants were students in first, second, and third grade. Trained examiners administered five curriculum-based reading passages and three norm-referenced reading subtests to each student. Strong relationships were evident between performance on the curriculum-based oral reading fluency assessments and the norm-referenced reading subtests of word attack, word identification and passage comprehension skills. Findings are discussed with regard to previous research and recommendations are provided for helping teachers and other professionals engaged in efforts to use assessment information in response to intervention as well as in targeting instructional support needed in reading.
A Community-Based Depression Prevention Intervention With Low-Income Single Mothers:

BACKGROUND: There is growing support that cognitive-behavioral interventions may prevent the onset of clinical depression in at-risk individuals. OBJECTIVES: This article describes the long-term effects of a cognitive-behavioral group intervention in reducing depressive symptoms, negative thinking, and chronic stressors in low-income single mothers at risk for clinical depression. STUDY DESIGN: One hundred thirty-six women were randomly assigned to either an experimental or no-treatment control group. The experimental group participated in a 6-hour cognitive-behavioral group intervention targeting identification and reduction of negative thinking. Data were collected on depressive symptoms, negative thinking, and chronic stressors at 1, 6, and 12 months postintervention. RESULTS: The women in the intervention group experienced a greater reduction in depressive symptoms, negative thinking, and the perception of chronic stressors. These positive effects continued over a 12-month period. CONCLUSIONS: Negativ...
A Methodology for Measuring, Reporting, Navigating, and Analyzing Overall Equipment Productivity (OEP)

This paper will focus on a proposal for a methodology, namely the fab overall equipment productivity (OEP) X-factor Contribution Box (FOX BOXcopy). Based on overall equipment efficiency (OEE) which is already widely in use in the semiconductor industry, the pivotal data analysis tool in this methodology is a two-dimensional, easily comprehensible visualization interface from which the user could readily discern which quadrant each toolset (or equipment) in the fab belongs to, what the extent of its OEP's deviation from plan is, and hence finally and most importantly which tools provide the most scope for improving the fab's X-factor (and hence, cycle time).
Influences of selective sympathetic denervation on coronary reactive hyperemia in conscious dogs

Mongrel dogs were chronically instrumented to measure left circumflex coronary flow, arterial pressure, left atrial pressure, ECG, heart rate and in some cases, left ventricular pressure or cardiac output. A cuff type occluder was placed distal to the flow probe. Total occlusion of the left circumflex coronary artery for one minute in unsedated, resting dogs produced reactive hyperemia with an average replacement/deficit ratio of 2.63/1. In 11 dogs, sympathetic influences were investigated by chronic surgical cardiac sympathectomy. Surgical section of all ansae subclaviae responses from 2.61/1 to 1.67/1 (P less than 0.001). Left sympathectomy alone had no effect on the replacement/deficit ratio whereas selective right sympathectomy reduced it from 2.25/1 to 1.38/1. Pharmacological blockade was used to determine beta-receptor involvement in the responses. In 9 intact dogs practolol (10 mg/kg) reduced the reactive hyperemia ratio by 12% (P less than 0.05). Propranolol (1 mg/kg) further reduced this ratio by 30% (P less than 0.001). Our results suggest that sympathetic beta influences work primarily through the right cardiac sympathetic nerves. Also, the magnitude of the response appears to be due, in part, to increased metabolic activity associated with myocardial beta 1-receptors and heart rate increase as well as active vasodilation through beta 2-receptors.
Thoracic outlet syndrome

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is a specific disease, with specific symptoms, and it is treatable! A recent survey revealed astounding information. One out of each five hand surgeons actually believes that TOS does not exist! One out of six believes that these patients never get better, nomatter what the treatment. In a recent editorial, Peter C. Amadio, MD, stated, ‘‘There is not much agreement as to what exactly constitutes thoracic outlet syndrome’’ [1]. This attests to the difficulty in diagnosis and the variability in the results of treatment. To put this in perspective, consider that carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) was first described in 1854 by Paget, and its surgical treatment was first reported in 1946 by Cannon and Love [2]. In contrast, TOS was described before CTS, in 1818 by Cooper, and its surgical treatment was first reported by Coote in 1861 and Keen in 1907 [3]. Why, then, hasn’t TOS made as much progress as CTS? First off, TOS is not as common as CTS. The methods used to diagnose and treat patients with TOS today are as numerous as the number of surgeons treating them. I have learned a great deal from each author, and have no doubt that each readerwill findhere a treasure of information about TOS. I have intentionally asked different authors to write seemingly identical articles; it is obvious that each approaches the problem in a unique way.
Nonatherosclerotic Arterial Disorders of the Lower Extremities

Atherosclerotic peripheral artery disease (PAD) is common, estimated to affect 4.3% to 29% of the adult population.1,2 PAD is an important syndrome to identify promptly because it is associated with an increased risk of premature myocardial infarction, stroke, and all-cause mortality.3 The public has limited appreciation for the disorder and its associated risks, making awareness of this disorder a high priority.4 Conversely, nonatherosclerotic artery diseases of the lower extremities (nonatherosclerotic PAD [NAPADs]) represent a heterogeneous group of uncommon conditions (Figure 1). Given the frequency of symptoms of leg discomfort, these disorders must also be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients who may not have the classic profile of atherosclerosis. Although each condition has distinctive pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, treatment, and prognosis, NAPAD also has unifying characteristics. Furthermore, left undiagnosed or mismanaged, these conditions may result in seriously adverse outcomes that may otherwise have been avoided or minimized. Figure 1. Examples of various types of lower-extremity peripheral artery disease. A , Halo sign caused by artery wall edema, typical of vasculitis. B , Computed tomographic angiography reconstruction of lower extremities revealing diffuse arterial calcification, typical of atherosclerosis. C , Angiography revealing transient occlusion of the popliteal artery on active plantar flexion (right), consistent with popliteal artery entrapment. D , Typical beaded appearance of the medial fibroplasia type of fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) in the right external iliac artery. Note the associated aneurysms of the common iliac arteries, potentially representing aneurysms associated with FMD or combined atherosclerosis and FMD. Patients with symptoms of exertional limb discomfort or physical examination findings suggestive of lower-extremity arterial ischemia may have PAD; however, it is important to differentiate between PAD and NAPAD. Given the uncommon nature of NAPAD, the differential diagnosis is unfamiliar to most clinicians. PAD is the most common arterial cause of …
Stimulus Properties of Dopaminergic Drugs: Comparisons Involving Selective Agonists and Antagonists

Rats were trained to discriminate the putatively selective dopamine (DA) receptor agonists SKF 38393 (lOmg/kg) or Ly 171555 (0.025 mg/kg) from saline in a two-lever situation involving fixed-ratio (FR 20), extinction schedules of water reinforcement. During substitution tests, no dose of any compound [apomorphine, Ly 171555, lisuride, LSD, amphetamine, cocaine, (—) 3- PPP, or SKF 82526] mimicked SKF 38393, the effects of which were blocked by the antagonist Sch 23390 but not by haloperidol. Postsynaptic and DA “autoreceptor” agonists [apomorphine, (—) 3-PPP], as well as dopaminergic ergot derivatives (bromocriptine, lergotrile, lisuride) and Sch 23390, substituted for Ly 171555, a partial ergoline which has behavioral effects that are blocked by haloperidol and molindone, but not by either Sch 23390 or serotonin (5-HT) antagonists (ketanserin, pizotifen). Amphetamine and cocaine did not substitute for either SKF 38393 or Ly 171555. These results suggest that the stimulus properties of a variety of neurophar- macologically important and clinically useful compounds are transduced at (pre- or postsynaptic) D2 receptors. However, this conclusion must be tempered by evidence that actions at D1 and D2 receptors may not be entirely independent. The behavioral effects of abused psychomotor stimulants probably involve mechanisms other than “direct” agonist activity at either D1 or D2 receptors.
An Efficient Finite Element-Boundary Integral Formulation for Numerical Modeling of Scattering by Discrete Body-of-Revolution

In this paper, we consider a special class of geometry, which exhibits angular periodicity. By rotating a certain fixed angle about its axis, this special geometry recovers itself. Such an object can be referred to as an angular periodic object (APO), which has also been known as a discrete body-of-revolution (DBOR). Because of the angular periodicity, the discretization of the entire object can be reduced to that of a slice corresponding to one period of the object. This reduced discretization can be exploited to increase the efficiency of its numerical simulation as well as to reduce the memory requirements for the simulation. The method developed here is based on the hybrid finite element-boundary integral (FE-BI) formulation for solving Maxwell's equations in open space. Our approach is to decouple the original FE-BI system into K smaller problems, with K denoting the total number of slices in a DBOR. Each decoupled problem is K times smaller than the original system and is solved independently for each discrete Fourier mode. Once the field for each mode is computed, the summation of all the modes yields the final solution to the problem. The formulation for this proposed FE-BI DBOR method is given in the following section. Then the speedup curve for solving coated sphere scattering problems and a numerical simulation for the scattering of a coated cylinder with 30 coated fins are presented as a validation example for the proposed algorithm
Dietary Protein Level and Stage of Development Affect Expression of an Intestinal Peptide Transporter (cPepT1) in Chickens

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary protein intake and stage of development on chicken intestinal peptide transporter (cPepT1) mRNA abundance. Chicks were sampled at embryonic d 16 (e 16) until the day of hatch (d 0). After hatch, mixed sex Cobb chicks were randomly assigned to diets containing 12, 18, or 24% crude protein (CP). Intakes of the 18 and 24% CP-fed birds were restricted to that consumed by the 12% CP-fed birds. Chickens were sampled on d 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 21, 28, and 35. The experiment was repeated with the addition of a 4th group with free access to the 24% CP diet. PepT1 mRNA abundance in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum was quantified by Northern blot. PepT1 mRNA was barely detectable between e 16 and 20 but increased 14- to 50-fold by d 0 (P < 0.001). In chickens fed 12% CP, cPepT1 mRNA abundance decreased throughout the experiment, whereas those fed the restricted 18 or 24% CP diets showed an increase in cPepT1 mRNA abundance (protein x time interaction, P < 0.01). In chicks with free access to the 24% CP diet, cPepT1 mRNA decreased until d 14 but returned to an intermediate level at d 35 (protein x time interaction, P < 0.01). The relative abundance of cPepT1 mRNA varied among intestinal segments with greater abundance occurring in the duodenal or jejunal sections (P < 0.05). Our results indicate that expression of cPepT1 mRNA is regulated by both dietary protein intake and developmental stage.
Near-Infrared Detection of Flow Injection Analysis by Acoustooptic Tunable Filter-Based Spectrophotometry

The instrumentation development of a near-infrared (near-IR) spectrophotometer based on an acoustooptic tunable filter (AOTF) and its application as a detector for flow injection analysis (FIA) are reported. In addition to being compact and all solid state, this AOTF-based instrument is very sensitive, has high resolution, and can be rapidly scanned. The latter advantage make it uniquely suited as a detector for FIA, in that it can rapidly record the whole near-IR absorption spectrum of a mixture passing through the FIA flow cell. Subsequent treatment of the recorded spectra with multivariate calibration methods makes it possible to use the FIA, for the first time, for such applications as the simultaneous determination of trace amounts of water and benzene in ethanol. Because all organic compounds absorb light in the near-infrared region, this AOTF-based near-IR detector can serve as a universal detector for FIA; as a consequence, applications of the FIA techniques can be expanded to other areas which ar...
Effect of a Lactobacillus Species-Based Probiotic and Dietary Lactose Prebiotic on Turkey Poult Performance With or Without Salmonella Enteritidis Challenge

SUMMARY To evaluate the effect of a probiotic culture in combination with dietary lactose as a prebiotic, 2 experiments were performed. Treated poults (Lactobacillus spp.-based probiotic culture) received dietary lactose (0.1%) continuously in the feed and probiotic culture (∼10 6 cfu/mL) in the drinking water. Controls received no treatments. Three hundred twenty selected female poults were tagged and randomly divided in 2 treatments with 4 replicates each (n = 40). In experiment 1, poults were challenged with ∼10 4 cfu of Salmonella Enteritidis; however, in experiment 2, no challenge was provided to poults. Body weight was evaluated on d 1, 7, and 14 (experiment 1, trial 1 and 2, experiment 2, trial 3) and on d 1, 8, and 18 (experiment 2, trial 4). Body weight and FCR were significantly (P 0.05) in either BW or FCR. These data suggest that dietary lactose with appropriate probiotic organisms may enhance performance of poults following a mild pathogenic challenge.
VirB7 Lipoprotein Is Exocellular and Associates with the Agrobacterium tumefaciens T Pilus

Agrobacterium tumefaciens transfers oncogenic T-DNA and effector proteins to plant cells via a type IV secretion pathway. This transfer system, assembled from the products of the virB operon, is thought to consist of a transenvelope mating channel and the T pilus. When screened for the presence of VirB and VirE proteins, material sheared from the cell surface of octopine strain A348 was seen to possess detectable levels of VirB2 pilin, VirB5, and the VirB7 outer membrane lipoprotein. Material sheared from the cell surface of most virB gene deletion mutants also possessed VirB7, but not VirB2 or VirB5. During purification of the T pilus from wild-type cells, VirB2, VirB5, and VirB7 cofractionated through successive steps of gel filtration chromatography and sucrose density gradient centrifugation. A complex containing VirB2 and VirB7 was precipitated from a gel filtration fraction enriched for T pilus with both anti-VirB2 and anti-VirB7 antiserum. Both the exocellular and cellular forms of VirB7 migrated as disulfide-cross-linked dimers and monomers when samples were electrophoresed under nonreducing conditions. A mutant synthesizing VirB7 with a Ser substitution of the lipid-modified Cys15 residue failed to elaborate the T pilus, whereas a mutant synthesizing VirB7 with a Ser substitution for the disulfide-reactive Cys24 residue produced very low levels of T pilus. Together, these findings establish that the VirB7 lipoprotein localizes exocellularly, it associates with the T pilus, and both VirB7 lipid modification and disulfide cross-linking are important for T-pilus assembly. T-pilus-associated VirB2 migrated in nonreducing gels as a monomer and a disulfide-cross-linked homodimer, whereas cellular VirB2 migrated as a monomer. A strain synthesizing a VirB2 mutant with a Ser substitution for the reactive Cys64 residue elaborated T pilus but exhibited an attenuated virulence phenotype. Dithiothreitol-treated T pilus composed of native VirB2 pilin and untreated T pilus composed of the VirB2C64S mutant pilin distributed in sucrose gradients more predominantly in regions of lower sucrose density than untreated, native T pili. These findings indicate that intermolecular cross-linking of pilin monomers is not required for T-pilus production, but cross-linking does contribute to T-pilus stabilization.
Reduced graphene oxide/silicon nanowire heterostructures with enhanced photoactivity and superior photoelectrochemical stability

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) have been widely studied as light harvesting antennas in photocatalysts due to their ability to absorb broad-spectrum solar radiation, but they are typically limited by poor photoelectrochemical stability. Here, we report the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide-SiNW (rGO-SiNW) heterostructures to achieve greatly improved photocatalytic activity and stability. The SiNWs were synthesized through a metal-assisted electroless etching process and functionalized with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) flakes through a chemical absorption process. Here, the rGO not only functions as a physical protection layer to isolate the SiNWs from the harsh electrochemical environment but also serves as a charge mediator to facilitate the charge separation and transport processes. Furthermore, the rGO may also function as a redox catalyst to ensure efficient utilization of photo-carriers for the desired chemical reactions. Photocatalytic dye degradation studies show that the photoactivity of the heterostructures can be significantly enhanced with an initial activation process and maintained without apparent decay over repeated reaction cycles. Electrochemical and photoelectrochemical studies indicate that the enhanced photoactivity and photostability can be attributed to the more efficient separation of photoexcited charge carriers in SiNWs and the reduced self-oxidation of the surface of the SiNWs during the photocatalytic dye degradation process. The ability to significantly improve the photocatalytic activity and stability in rGO-SiNW heterostructures can not only lead to more opportunities for the application of silicon-based photocatalysts/photoelectrodes for solar energy harvesting but also provide new insights into the stabilization of other unstable photocatalytic systems.
Structural Evidence for Feedback Activation by Ras·GTP of the Ras-Specific Nucleotide Exchange Factor SOS

Abstract Growth factor receptors activate Ras by recruiting the nucleotide exchange factor son of sevenless (SOS) to the cell membrane, thereby triggering the production of GTP-loaded Ras. Crystallographic analyses of Ras bound to the catalytic module of SOS have led to the unexpected discovery of a highly conserved Ras binding site on SOS that is located distal to the active site and is specific for Ras·GTP. The crystal structures suggest that Ras·GTP stabilizes the active site of SOS allosterically, and we show that Ras·GTP forms ternary complexes with SOS cat in solution and increases significantly the rate of SOS cat -stimulated nucleotide release from Ras. These results demonstrate the existence of a positive feedback mechanism for the spatial and temporal regulation of Ras.