cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Black Boxes and Bias in AI Challenge Autonomy

In “Artificial Intelligence, Social Media and Depression: A New Concept of Health-Related Digital Autonomy,” Laacke and colleagues (2021) posit a revised model of autonomy when using digital algori...
Factors Mediating Use of Advanced Rehabilitation Technologies in the Home

As technologies become “smarter,” it becomes more feasible for people with neurological conditions, such as stroke or cerebral palsy (CP), to exercise greater control over their own therapeutic regimens. Sending advanced rehabilitation technology (RT), internet-connected and robotic, home with patients allows optimization of frequency, duration, and intensity of the therapist’s prescribed intervention. Increased consumer satisfaction with the therapeutic process, as well as better clinical outcomes, is the envisioned result of supporting home exercise programs with advanced RT. We performed a secondary analysis of data from the conceptual phases of two new instrument development projects in two different domains of patient/client-controlled RT: one focused on restoration of hand function in adults after stroke and the other focused on building ankle strength and flexibility to support gait in children with CP. Three unifying concepts were identified. We draw on self-determination theory (SDT) to make sense of the commonalities we observed across families’ experiences of technology-driven home therapy programs.
Vaginal iontophoresis of a choline compound

Abstract As a result of nine years of experience with iontophoresis, we are convinced that the treatment is simple in application and practically free from any toxic reaction. Its greatest field of usefulness is in the treatment of inflammatory pelvic exudates. In such cases iontophoresis has made prolonged hospitalization unnecessary, has returned these women to usefulness, and has relieved symptoms much more quickly than is possible with other therapeutic methods. We now feel justified in stating that: (1) Mecholyl iontophoresis promptly cures exudative pelvic inflammation. (2) There is no effect on productive inflammatory pathology. (3) There is no effect on organized blood accumulations. (4) There is no effect on new growths, uterine, ovarian, or in other pelvic structures. (5) The therapy is a helpful differential diagnostic aid in pelvic masses. (6) Preliminary iontophoresis when associated inflammation exists renders operation easier and less extensive. (7) Certain follicular ovarian cysts are apparently influenced and disappear under therapy. (8) Dysmenorrhea associated with pelvic inflammation and caused thereby is relieved as the inflammation disappears, but primary or essential dysmenorrhea is unaffected in most instances. From the foregoing, it is clear that iontophoresis is a safe, economic, rapid and practical therapeutic method for the relief of pelvic inflammation.
Contesting the Sacred: The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage

Reviewed Medium: book Year: 2000 Pages: xxx + 159 Publisher: University of Illinois Press Prices: $17.95
Heavy ion induction linac drivers for inertial confinement fusion

Intense beams of high energy heavy ions (e.g., 10 GeV Hg) are an attractive option for an ICF driver because of their favorable energy deposition characteristics. The accelerator systems to produce...
Sarbanes-Oxley, Governance and Performance

We study the relationship between corporate governance and company performance. We consider five measures of corporate governance during the period 1998-2007. Given the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) during 2002, we separate the sample into pre-2002 and post-2002 periods to study how governance-performance relationships might have been impacted by this regulation.We find a negative and significant relationship between board independence and operating performance during the pre-2002 period, but a positive and significant relationship during the post-2002 period. The stock ownership of directors is consistently positively and significantly related to performance through each of the subperiods. Other measures, such as the governance indices introduced by Gompers, Ishii and Metrick (2003) and Bebchuk, Cohen and Ferrell (2009) provide inconsistent results. We conclude that corporate governance studies should consider director stock ownership as the most reliable measure of governance. We further investigate the relationship between SOX, governance and performance by examining how CEOs are disciplined following poor performance. We find that board independence and director stock ownership appear to be effective governance mechanisms for replacing the CEO following poor performance.
ELAV protein HuA (HuR) can redistribute between nucleus and cytoplasm and is upregulated during serum stimulation and T cell activation.

ELAV proteins are implicated in regulating the stability and translation of cytokine and growth regulatory mRNAs such as GM-CSF, IL-2, c-myc, c-fos and GLUT1 by binding to their AU-rich 3′UTRs. The tissue-specific ELAV protein HuB (aka. Hel-N1) is predominantly cytoplasmic and has been shown to stabilize GLUT1 and c-myc mRNAs and to increase their translation following ectopic expression in 3T3-L1 cells. We report that the most widely expressed mouse ELAV protein, mHuA, is predominately nuclear in cultured NIH-3T3 cells, but is localized in the cytoplasm during early G1 of the cell cycle. Therefore, much like the primarily cytoplasmic HuB, HuA becomes temporally localized in the cytoplasm where it can potentially regulate the stability or translation of bound mRNAs. Moreover, we report that stimulation of mouse spleen cells using either mitogenic or sub-mitogenic levels of anti-CD3/CD28 resulted in a dramatic increase in the level of HuA. Upregulation of HuA corresponds to previously documented increases in cytokine expression which are due to increased mRNA stability following T cell activation. Consistent with these findings, HuA was down regulated in quiescent cells and upregulated in 3T3 cells following serum stimulation. The increase of murine HuA during the cell cycle closely resembles that of cyclin B1 which peaks in G2/M. Together with our earlier studies, these data indicate that mammalian ELAV proteins function during cell growth and differentiation due in part to their effects on posttranscriptional stability and translation of multiple growth regulatory mRNAs. This supports the hypothesis that ELAV proteins can function as transacting factors which affect a default pathway of mRNA degradation involved in the expression of growth regulatory proteins.
Mapping quantitative trait loci for complex binary diseases using line crosses.

A composite interval gene mapping procedure for complex binary disease traits is proposed in this paper. The binary trait of interest is assumed to be controlled by an underlying liability that is normally distributed. The liability is treated as a typical quantitative character and thus described by the usual quantitative genetics model. Translation from the liability into a binary (disease) phenotype is through the physiological threshold model. Logistic regression analysis is employed to estimate the effects and locations of putative quantitative trait loci (our terminology for a single quantitative trait locus is QTL while multiple loci are referred to as QTLs). Simulation studies show that properties of this mapping procedure mimic those of the composite interval mapping for normally distributed data. Potential utilization of the QTL mapping procedure for resolving alternative genetic models (e.g., single- or two-trait-locus model) is discussed.
EL-2 Defect Formation and Carbon Incorporation in GaAs grown by Organometallic Vapor Phase Epitaxy

The anti-site defect As Ga , EL-2, is used to understand the nature of arsenic surface species during the Organometallic Vapor Phase Epitaxy(OMVPE) of GaAs. The concentration of EL-2 in unintentionally doped n-GaAs, measured by Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy, is presented as a function of AsH 3 partial pressure, TMGa partial pressure and the growth temperature. Based on this data, a model for EL-2 incorporation in OMVPE GaAs is developed in which all surface species As-H, are converted to As 2 at around 765 ° C. Under the same set of growth conditions, relative carbon levels measured by 4K Photoluminescence, suggest that the increase in carbon levels with growth temperature is due to the gas-phase loss of H radical from the As-H species.
Investigations on myelinogenesis in vitro: a study of the critical period at which thyroid hormone exerts its maximum regulatory effect on the developmental expression of two myelin associated markers in cultured brain cells from embryonic mice.

Cultures of cells dissociated from embryonic mouse brain were used to assess the period in which thyroid hormone exerts its maximum influence on the regulation of the expression of two myelin associated metabolites, sulfolipids and 2′3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphohydrolase (CNP-ase). Cultures were grown for a specified number of days on a medium containing normal calf serum and then a portion were switched to a medium containing hypothyroid calf serum for 2 days. One half of these cultures were then supplemented with 50 nM triiodothyronine and growth was continued in all cultures for 3 more days. The cells were then assayed for CNP-ase activity and for their ability to incorporate35SO4 into sulfolipids. Studies with both myelin markers showed that in the earlier culture ages of 5, 8, and 11 days, thyroid hormone was able to fully restore the activities when abbed to cultures grown on hypothyroid calf-serum. In contrast, in the intermediate age range (15, 19, and 22 days) the restoration was partial, while in the higher ages, there was practically negligible restoration with T3. Since the culture system eliminates the possibility of a blood brain barrier and drastically decreases the complicity of other hormones, the lack of a myelinogeni response to thyroid hormone after a certain age must be attributed to the loss of sensitivity of the oligodendroglia to T3 possibly through genetic programming.
John W. Kirklin, MD 1917–2004

It is my privilege to be asked to write a memorial for John W. Kirklin, MD, whose innovations in cardiopulmonary bypass strongly influenced the development of the field of cardiac surgery. Dr Kirklin was 86 years old when he died on April 21, 2004, from a head injury he sustained in January. Born in Muncie, Indiana, Dr Kirklin received his undergraduate education at the University of Minnesota and earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. After interning at the University Hospital of Pennsylvania and the Mayo Clinic, he trained in neurosurgery at O’Reilly General Hospital in Missouri and went on to serve 2½ years as an army neurosurgeon. After his discharge from the army in 1946, Dr Kirklin worked as assistant resident to renowned pediatric surgeon Dr Robert Gross at Boston Children’s Hospital. It was there that Dr Kirklin’s interests shifted from neurosurgery to …
Power-aware traffic engineering for multi-layer networks with partial deployment of TDM-XCs

This paper investigates power-aware traffic engineering for multi-layer networks utilizing ILP, and proposes a heuristic approach. Simulation results illustrate that partial deployment of TDM-XCs in multi-layer networks with smart traffic engineering contributes to power conservation.
Role of Carbon Order in Structural Transformations and Hydrogen Evolution Induced by Reactive Ball Milling in Cyclohexene

Demineralized Summit (DS) anthracite, DS annealed at 1673 K, and graphite are used to explore the effect of precursor order on structural transformations and H2 evolution that result during reactive ball milling. Carbon structure was assessed before and after milling with temperature-programmed oxidation, X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet Raman spectroscopy, N2 adsorption, He density, and solvent swelling. Graphite milled in cyclohexene is primarily nanocrystalline graphite, with 8 wt % amorphous content leading to low-temperature oxidation, swelling, increased surface area, and mesoporosity. Milling the disordered DS leads to signs of increased sp2 clustering, increased cross-linking, a significant ultramicroporosity with pores less than 8 A, and low-temperature H2 evolution. The carbon fraction of annealed DS behaves similarly to graphite in the mill.
Special requirements for electronic medical records in neurology.

Summary Electronic medical records (EMRs) are being rapidly adapted in the United States with goals of improving patient care, increasing efficiency, and reducing costs. Neurologists must become knowledgeable about the utility and effectiveness of the important parts of these systems specifically needed for care of neurology patients. The field of neurology encompasses complex disorders whose diagnosis and management heavily relies on detailed medical documentation of history and physical examination, and often on specialty-specific ancillary tests and extensive neuroimaging. Small discrepancies in documentation or absence of an in-hand ancillary test result can drastically change the current workup or treatment decision of a complex patient with neurologic disease. We describe current models and opportunities for improvements to EMRs that provide utility and efficiency in the care of neurology patients.
Managing Guilt: The Personal Responsibility Rhetoric among Parents of “Troubled” Teens

In this article I illustrate the connections between talk, emotion management, and identity. In much of the recent work on collective, discursive strategies such as narrative and rhetoric, this lin...
Antiarrhythmic agents. II. Therapeutic considerations.

Clinical management of cardiac tachyarrhythmias is fundamentally founded on precise determination of their nature and the clinical condition in which they occur, together with knowledge of the mechanisms of action and pharmacodynamics of the antiarrhythmic drugs and understanding of the related electrical therapeutic modalities. The initial objective in the therapy of supraventricular tachyarrhythmias is control of ventricular rate and then restoration of normal sinus rhythm. In general, supraventricular disorders are treated with digitalis, vagal stimulation, quinidine, procainamide, propranolol and direct current electroshock. Ventricular tachyarrhythmias are managed with lignocaine, procainamide, quinidine, propranolol, phenytoin (diphenylhydantoin), bretylium, direct current electroshock and electrical pacemaker ventricular overdrive. Digitalis toxicity is among the most common adverse drug reactions and may cause arrhythmias and conduction disturbances in as many as 1 of 5 patients. Particularly responsible are the electrophysiological properties of digitalis in increasing the automaticity of subsidiary pacemakers, reducing the refractory period and prolonging conduction velocity in the atria and ventricles, and delaying conduction in the atrioventricular node. Digitalis can provoke every type of cardiac arrhythmia and no specific disorder of rhythm can be considered absolutely pathognomonic of digitalis toxicity. The factors that predispose to digitalis toxicity, as well as the onset and duration of action of the agent, must be taken into account. Potassium has relatively little influence on the toxic and the contractile actions of digitalis when the cation is administered after the glycoside has been taken up by the myocardium. In contrast, alterations in serum potassium effected before treatment with digitalis may have drastic effects on the electrophysiologic and contractile actions of the glycoside; hyperkalemia reduces the binding of digitalis to the myocardium. Phenytoin, lignocaine and propranolol are effective in terminating digitalis-provoked tachyarrhythmias, usually without inducing or worsening A-V block. Atrial or ventricular pacing to achieve electrical overdrive of the ectopic focus may be used if standard measures fail. In complete heart block, potassium should not be administered; atropine and electrical pacing should be used. In general, antiarrhythmic agents have depressant effects on cardiac contractility which are related to dose, speed of administration, and extent of myocardial disease. In addition, these agents reduce peripheral vascular resistance. However, the negative inotropic action and vasodilator effect are usually minimal or absent in the small beginning doses used to control tachyarrhythmias. The fundamental subcellular actions of antiarrhythmic agents appear to occur as a consequence of their influence on the cardiac cell membranes and, in this manner, altered transmembrane fluxes of Na+ and K+ ions underlie their electrophysiological effects and changes in Ca++ movement mediate their contractile properties.
Characterization of human UMP-CMP kinase enzymatic activity and 5' untranslated region.

Abstract We have cloned a cDNA for human UMP-CMP kinase from a macrophage cDNA library. Sequence analysis showed that this cDNA is derived from the same gene as a previously reported EST-derived cDNA [1]. Here we show that a conspicuous difference between these two clones, 73 additional 5′ nucleotides in the EST clone, including a putative translational start site, is not functionally significant. This work shows that the additional 5′sequence in the EST clone was unnecessary for enzymatic activity and nonfunctional in the initiation of translation. Specifically, we found that protein expressed by both the macrophage-derived cDNA and the extended cDNA had the same relative molecular mass, consistent with use of an ATG internal to the macrophage-derived clone as the functional start site. In addition, this work more precisely defines the catalytic activity of UMP-CMP kinase. Here, we show a 3-fold greater substrate preference for CMP relative to UMP, identify ATP and UTP as the preferred phosphate donors for the reaction, and demonstrate that the reaction is Mg 2 +-dependent. In addition, investigation of UMP-CMP-kinase expression revealed two mRNA products in immune tissues and cancer cell lines. The smaller RNA product was previously undescribed.
Regarding research as a land use

Abstract Although missing as a land use category in all or most land classification systems, many land designation systems recognize research as the primary use of specific land areas. Research lands may be extensive and take up large areas; they may also be widespread systems of smaller designated sites that cover a significant total area. They are designated at the scale of international, national, subnational and smaller systems. New Mexico and Oregon, USA, illustrate extensive designation of lands for research purposes, including the variety of types and scales of research lands. In New Mexico, over a million hectares of land have been designated for research. This amounts to about 3.3 per cent of the state's area. Recognition of research as a land use, and of lands designated for research or scientific purposes, opens up many topics for further investigation.
Social class differences in children's syntactic performance: a quantitative analysis of field study data.

Our objective was to determine whether statistically reliable social class differences would be found in the degrees and types of syntactic elaboration in the speech of selected Negro and white, male and female, fifth- and sixth-grade children from whom language samples had been obtained in the Detroit Dialect Study. The corpus of some 24,000 words represented the speech of children selected from relatively low and middle ranges of a socioeconomic scale used in the original study. A quantitative description of syntactic elaboration was obtained by using a modified immediate constituents procedure which provides coding of the structural divisions of English sentences. Results indicated reliable social class differences on a variety of indices, mostly indicating that children from the higher status sample tended to employ more, and more elaborated, syntactic patterns. Such status differences generally prevailed across the sexes, but did vary across the levels of a topical variable and the race variable. Res...
Cross-diffusion in the Templator model of chemical self-replication

Abstract For the Templator model of chemical self-replication, we consider the effect of cross-diffusion in pattern formation. Although other chemical systems with cross-diffusion have been reported, we are the first to obtain exact relations between the relevant parameters for the Poincare–Adronov–Hopf and Turing bifurcations. Moreover, for the simplest case, we obtain analytical expressions in parameter space for the bifurcation curves and the Turing–PAH codimension two point.
Auctioning game based Demand Response scheduling in smart grid

Matching demand to supply is one of the key features of smart grid infrastructure. Transforming conventional static customers into active participants who interact with the electrical utility in real time is the central idea of Demand Response (DR)\Demand Side Management (DSM) in smart grid. In this paper, we decouple utility cost minimization and customer social welfare maximization into two stages. Since the utility is usually more risk averse than risk neutral in real life, this decoupling approach is more realistic than the usually adopted optimization setup, in which the two objectives are combined in a single weighted sum. With a block processing model introduced, in the first stage a convex optimization problem is formulated to minimize utility's generation cost and delay operation cost. An optimal load demand scheduling solution, of the form of water-filling, is derived analytically. Based on the optimal load profile generated in this first stage, repeated Vickrey auctions over time intervals are adopted to allocate load demands among customers while maximizing the social welfare. Despite the fact that truthful bidding is a weakly dominant strategy for all customers in the auctioning game, collusive equilibria do exist and jeopardize utility's profit severely. Analysis on the structure of the Bayesian Nash equilibrium solutions shows that by introducing a positive reserve price the Vickrey auction can be made to be more robust against such collusion by customers. Moreover the corresponding Bayesian Nash equilibrium is essentially unique and guarantees the basic profit of the utility. We further discuss how customers' valuations and bidding strategies change over time for the repeated Vickrey auction model. Simulation results emphasizing the influences of reserve price and time interval size on utility's profit is also presented.
Numerical solution of a Fredholm integro-differential equation modelling neural networks

We compare piecewise linear and polynomial collocation approaches for the numerical solution of a Fredholm integro-differential equations modelling neural networks. Both approaches combine the use of Gaussian quadrature rules on an infinite interval of integration with interpolation to a uniformly distributed grid on a bounded interval. These methods are illustrated by numerical experiments on neural networks equations.
Altitudinal differentiation of reproductive tactic plasticity despite the close proximity of two Aquarius remigis populations

In the water strider ( Aquarius remigis ), direct and delayed reproductive tactics are largely canalized in southern and northern areas of North America, respectively. A transition zone occurs in upstate New York, defined as the area where lowland striders plastically express either tactic based on photoperiod and food abundance cues. We tested whether these cues similarly influence tactics among higher altitude transition zone populations. We compared the proportion of direct reproducers from a high altitude stream (HAS) and a low altitude stream (LAS) reared under low and high food abundance, as well as a normal and late-solstice photoperiod. With sexes combined, higher proportions of direct reproducers were found among LAS striders, and among striders reared in the late solstice photoperiod and high food abundance treatments. Among males, a food abundance × stream interaction was significant, suggesting greater canalization of reproductive tactics among HAS males. Among females, photoperiod was a significant factor, but did not interact with stream of origin. Field measurements showed that water surface temperatures and food abundance were lower in HAS compared to LAS. These conditions, as well as shorter season lengths, likely select against direct reproduction among HAS striders, possibly resulting in the observed canalization of reproductive tactics.
The influence of bicarbonate administration on blood pH in a "closed system": clinical implications.

An in vitro comparison was made of the effect of isotonic and hypertonic NaHCO 3 solutions on blood pH when the elimination of carbon dioxide was prevented. The results demonstrate that the rise in P co 2 which occurs after addition of isotonic NaHCO 3 offsets the increase in bicarbonate concentration, and the rise in pH is extremely small. The addition of bicarbonate in hypertonic solutions produces a greater elevation of P co 2 and blood pH may actually fall. The acidosis associated with hypertonicity of extracellular fluids results from the dilution of extracellular buffers and the release of protons from intracellular buffers, such as hemoglobin, in response to the increase in ionic strength.
Chandra Observation of the Central Region of the Cooling Flow Cluster A262: A Radio Source That Is a Shadow of Its Former Self?

We present a Chandra observation of the cooling flow cluster A262. Spectral fits show that the intracluster medium (ICM) in A262 cools by a factor of 3, from 2.7 to 0.9 keV, at the cluster center. A mass deposition rate of = 19 M☉ yr-1 is measured. Complex structure is found in the very inner regions of the cluster, including knots of emission and a clear deficit of emission to the east of the cluster center. The bright X-ray structures are located in the same regions as optical line emission, indicating that cooling to low temperatures has occurred in these regions. The X-ray deficit is spatially coincident with the eastern radio lobe associated with the active galactic nucleus hosted by the central cD galaxy. The region surrounding the X-ray hole is cool and shows no evidence that it has been strongly shocked. This joins the ranks of other cooling flow clusters with Chandra-detected bubbles blown by central radio sources. This source is different from the other well-known cases, in that the radio source is orders of magnitude less luminous and has produced a much smaller bubble. Comparing the energy output of the radio source with the luminosity of the cooling gas shows that energy transferred to the ICM from the radio source is insufficient to offset the cooling flow unless the radio source is currently experiencing a less powerful than average outburst and was more powerful in the past.
Tellurium NaX zeolites: I. Deuterium tracer studies of cyclohexane dehydrogenation to benzene

Abstract Deuterium tracers were used to explore the mechanisms of dehydrogenation of six-membered cyclic compounds to benzene over a Te NaX zeolite catalyst. Dehydrogenation of cyclohexane to cyclohexene (and probably to cyclohexadiene) precedes the formation of benzene. A large primary kinetic isotope effect ( k c 6 h 12 k c 6 D 12 ~ 2.5 at 400 ° C ) indicates that cleavage of the CH bonds in cyclohexane is the rate-determining reaction step. Although the presence of gaseous hydrogen is required to maintain catalyst activity, the dehydrogenation rates are the same in H 2 as they are in D 2 . Only a limited amount of exchange occurs between D 2 and H atoms in the hydrocarbons. The exchange which is observed probably arises from double bond shift that occurs in the olefins by an addition/abstraction mechanism on a single Te atom containing one adsorbed D atom. Cyclohexane can be formed from cyclohexene by hydrogen transfer from another cyclohexene molecule much more readily than it can be formed by direct saturation with gaseous H 2 . Both the dehydrogenation and isomerization sites are probably Te 0 surface atoms.
Isolation of the V‐ATPase A and c subunit cDNAs from mosquito midgut and malpighian tubules

Using conserved amino acid sequences for the design of oligonucleotide primers, we isolated cDNA clones for two subunits of the V-ATPase from the midgut and Malpighian tubules of Aedes aegypti larvae. The 3.1 kb cDNA of the A subunit of the peripheral catalytic V1 sector codes for a protein of 68.6 kDa. The protein contains conserved motifs, including an ATP/GTP binding site, found in all other A subunits. Southern analysis using the A subunit as a probe suggests the presence of only a single copy of gene in the Aedes aegypti. The 0.85 kb cDNA of the c subunit of the membrane H+ conducting V0 sector codes for a protein of kDa. This protein has four transmembrane domains and contains a conserved glutamic acid that serves as the binding site for dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. Southern analysis using the c subunit as a probe suggests the presence of more than one related gene in the genome of Aedes aegypti. Pileup analysis of various A and c subunits shows that these subunits fall into distinct clusters, including one in which all arthropod proteins are clustered. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 37:80–90, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
EMERGING MODEL OF COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE INTERVENTION

Research on methods to enhance and remediate the communication and language development of children with mental retardation and developmental disabilities has been ongoing since the early 1960s. Scores of studies have been conducted over this time period, the vast majority aimed at testing various procedures or intervention ‘‘packages’’ with relatively small numbers of children for very limited periods of time. This ‘‘technology building’’ period is gradually receding and the framework of a developmental model of early communication and language intervention is emerging. This model supports the use of different intervention approaches at different points in a child’s development. The purpose of this paper is to describe the basic framework of this emerging model, to provide an overview of the research findings that support it, and to identify high priority areas for further investigation. r 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc. MRDD Research Reviews 1997;3:358‐362.
Cecal ligation and perforation is associated with adrenal insufficiency in rats

Abstract There is renewed interest in the use of exogenous steroids to treat refractory hypotension in sepsis. Despite the growing body of literature demonstrating the efficacy of steroid therapy in this clinical setting, little is known regarding the mechanism responsible for the observed hypocortisolism. Scant data suggest that TNF inhibits the synthesis and secretion of cortisol by the adrenals. To investigate the pathophysiology of sepsis-induced adrenal insufficiency, we examined the adrenal response to an ACTH stimulation test in a rat model of gram-negative sepsis. Cecal ligation and perforation (CLP) was performed on male Sprague-Dawley rats. Four hours following CLP, adrenal glands were removed, sectioned, and placed in incubation medium. ACTH stimulation tests were performed by the addition of cortrosyn and corticosterone levels measured at 0, 15, 30, and 60 min via radio-immunoassay. The results from CLP animals were compared to those of sham-operated, control rats. Cortrosyn stimulation of adrenal glands collected from control rats resulted in a 4- and 7-fold increase in corticosterone production over baseline at 30 and 60 min, respectively. However, adrenal glands collected from animals following CLP failed to respond to cortrosyn stimulation (Fig. 1) In conclusion, we have shown that cecal ligation and perforation is associated with a significant inhibition of the adrenocortical response to ACTH making this an excellent model to examine the pathophysiology of sepsis-induced adrenal insufficiency. Download : Download full-size image Figure 1 . Percent change in average corticosterone production by adrenals from normal versus CLP rats with 20 ng/ml ACTH stimulation. (∗P
Time decay for solutions of Schrödinger equations with rough and time-dependent potentials

In this paper we establish dispersive estimates for solutions to the linear Schrodinger equation in three dimensions 0.1 $$\frac{1}{i}\partial_t \psi - \triangle \psi + V\psi = 0,\qquad \psi(s)=f$$ where V(t,x) is a time-dependent potential that satisfies the conditions $$\sup_{t}\|V(t,\cdot)\|_{L^{\frac{3}{2}}(\mathbb{R}^3)} + \sup_{x\in\mathbb{R}^3}\int_{\mathbb{R}^3} \int_{-\infty}^\infty\frac{|V(\hat{\tau},x)|}{|x-y|}\,d\tau\,dy < c_0.$$ Here c 0 is some small constant and $V(\hat{\tau},x$) denotes the Fourier transform with respect to the first variable. We show that under these conditions (0.1) admits solutions ψ(·)∈L ∞ t (L 2 x (ℝ3))∩L 2 t (L 6 x (ℝ3)) for any f∈L 2(ℝ3) satisfying the dispersive inequality 0.2 $$\|\psi(t)\|_{\infty} \le C|t-s|^{-\frac32}\,\|f\|_1 \text{\ \ for all times $t,s$.}$$ For the case of time independent potentials V(x), (0.2) remains true if $$\int_{\mathbb{R}^6} \frac{|V(x)|\;|V(y)|}{|x-y|^2} \, dxdy <(4\pi)^2\text{\ \ \ and\ \ \ }\|V\|_{\mathcal{K}}:=\sup_{x\in\mathbb{R}^3}\int_{\mathbb{R}^3} \frac{|V(y)|}{|x-y|}\,dy<4\pi.$$ We also establish the dispersive estimate with an e-loss for large energies provided $\|V\|_{\mathcal{K}}+\|V\|_2<\infty$ . Finally, we prove Strichartz estimates for the Schrodinger equations with potentials that decay like |x|-2-e in dimensions n≥3, thus solving an open problem posed by Journe, Soffer, and Sogge.
Determination of procarbazine in human plasma by liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Procarbazine is a cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agent used in the treatment of lymphomas and brain tumors. Its pharmacokinetic behavior remains poorly understood even though more than 30 years have elapsed since the drug was approved for clinical use. To characterize the pharmacokinetics of procarbazine in brain cancer patients during a phase I trial, a method for determining the drug in human plasma by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) was developed and thoroughly validated. Plasma samples were prepared for analysis by precipitating proteins with trichloroacetic acid and washing the protein-free supernatant with methyl tert-butyl ether to remove excess acid. The solution was separated on a Luna C-18 analytical column using methanol-25 mM ammonium acetate buffer, pH 5.1 (22:78, v/v) as the mobile phase at 1.0 ml/min. A single-quadrupole mass spectrometer with an electrospray interface was operated in the selected-ion monitoring mode to detect the [M+H](+) ions at m/z 222.2 for procarbazine and at m/z 192.1 for the internal standard (3-dimethylamino-2-methylpropiophenone). Procarbazine and the internal standard eluted as sharp, symmetrical peaks with retention times (mean+/-S.D.) of 6.3+/-0.1 and 9.9+/-0.3 min, respectively. Calibration curves of procarbazine hydrochloride in human plasma at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 50 ng/ml exhibited excellent linearity. The mean absolute recovery of the drug from plasma was 102.9+/-1.0%. Using a sample volume of 150 microl, procarbazine was determined at the 0.5 ng/ml (1.9 nM) lower limit of quantitation with a mean accuracy of 105.2% and an interday precision of 3.60% R.S.D. on 11 different days over 5 weeks. During this same time interval, the between-day accuracy for determining quality control solutions of the drug in plasma at concentrations of 2.0, 15 and 40 ng/ml ranged from 97.5 to 98.2% (mean+/-S.D., 97.9+/-0.4%) and the precision was 3.8-6.2% (mean+/-S.D., 5.1+/-1.2%). Stability characteristics of the drug were thoroughly evaluated to establish appropriate conditions to process, store and prepare clinical specimens for chromatographic analysis without inducing significant chemical degradation. The sensitivity achieved with this assay permitted the plasma concentration-time profile of the parent drug to be accurately defined following oral administration of standard doses to brain cancer patients.
Robust design of mechanical systems via stochastic expansion

This paper discusses stochastic optimisation using Polynomial Chaos Expansion (PCE) with Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS). PCE provides a means to quantify the uncertainty of highly non-linear structural models involving inherent randomness of geometric, material, and loading properties. PCE, specifically the non-intrusive formulation, is used to construct surrogates of stochastic responses for optimisation procedures. A standard optimisation algorithm is then used. In particular, the material properties of structural systems are assumed to be uncertain and treated as uncorrelated random variables. Implementation of the method is demonstrated for a three-bar structure and a complex engineering structure of an uninhabited joined-wing aircraft.
Creativity in aging artists: Contributions from the humanities to the psychology of old age

Abstract: The predominant psychological view of creativity over the life course is that it declines. However, discussions in the humanities, and in particular art history, paint a different picture. Long‐lived artists of historical fame show a variety of different creative outcomes. One of the most interesting is the late‐life (or old‐age) style where there is an abrupt shift in creative expression. The late‐life style is extensively reviewed not only for its relevance to the study of creativity, and its bearing on cognitive development and aging in general, but also because the phenomenon has barely been recognized by psychologists. The late‐life style has been neglected because of a lack of consensus over several key issues, including the identification of artists whose style has changed in old age and the description of its defining characteristics. Empirical research can help clarify these and other questions about the late‐life style. Several studies are summarized in this article. It is maintained t...
The “Belbin” team role inventory: reinterpreting reliability estimates

Previous research into the reliability of the “Belbin” team role self‐perception inventory has concluded that internal consistency reliability is poor, raising concerns about the validity of the inventory as a selection and development tool. This paper argues that, in overcoming the problem of unequal scale lengths between respondents, researchers have tampered with the true error variance contained within item response sets, leading to a misapplication of Cronbach’s alpha in this case. Using weighted average inter‐item correlation coefficients in a formula unrelated to scale length, alternative estimates of the internal consistency reliability of the TRSPI’s scales are derived. For a large data set (n=5,003), results show that the internal consistency of item responses is better than previous research suggests and tends towards the boundary at which internal consistency is considered acceptable in social and psychological research.
Post-therapy change in prostate-specific antigen levels as a clinical trial endpoint in hormone-refractory prostatc cancer: A trial with 10-ethyl-deaza-aminopterin

Abstract Objectives Serial changes in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) correlate with disease status in all stages of prostatic cancer. For hormone-refractory disease, post-therapy declines of 50% and 80% from baseline are associated with an improved survival. This study sought to evaluate edatrexate, a synthetic antifolate, in hormone-refractory prostatic cancer using post-therapy PSA change as the initial endpoint. Methods Fourteen patients with progression of disease despite castrate levels oftestosterone received edatrexate. Serial changes in PSA were monitored and correlated with other parameters of outcome. Results Stabilization of a rising PSA level in parallel with clinical stabilization of diseasewas observed in one patient; disease in all others progressed. Toxic reactions were acceptable. Conclusions With no objective evidence for antitumor activity as assessed by post-therapy PSA changes in any of the patients treated, edatrexate seems a poor candidate for future study. The use of post-therapy PSA change as the initial screening modality allows treatments to be evaluated rapidly in patients without measurable disease. The methodology proposed will require validation in prospective phase III investigations using survival as the endpoint.
Motivating Peak Performance: Leadership Behaviors That Stimulate Employee Motivation And Performance

The impact of leader behaviors on motivation levels of employees was examined in this study. Two hundred twenty-three vice presidents and chief officers from 104 member colleges and universities in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities were sampled. Leaders were administered the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-rater version) and multiple regressions models were utilized to create a four-factor leadership model that identified the significant predictive leadership variables that correlate with motivation for extra effort among workers. This new model was slightly more predictive of variance in motivation toward extra effort (adjusted R2 = 0.64) than the individual models of transformational leadership, and much more predictive than the transactional leadership or laissez-faire leadership models. The four-factor leadership model simplifies the leadership process by reducing the number of significant leadership behaviors from a possibility of nine factors to four significant leadershi...
India’s Search for a Post-Cold War Foreign Policy Domestic Constraints and Obstacles

During much of the Cold War, India chose to pursue a non-aligned foreign policy posture. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War forced India to redefine its foreign policy and search for a new place in the emerging international order. However, almost 20 years on, India’s foreign policy still appears to lack a coherent strategic doctrine. This article identifies some of the domestic factors that hampered the development of a post-Cold War ‘grand strategy’. It argues that the emergence of coalition governments at the national level since the early 1990s, the country’s federal structure, weaknesses in India’s foreign policy institutions and the lack of a strategic culture within the country together constrain India’s search for a post-Cold War foreign policy.
Anthropological Influence on Urban Educational Reform

Increasing participation by anthropologists in complex, stratified societies and urban settings has changed the image of who we are and what we do. We hear the all too familiar, "Been on any digs lately?" less frequently, especially when we qualify our identity as anthropologists with labels such "cultural," "biological," "educational," or "medical."
Hepatic Heme Oxygenase Is Inducible in Neonatal Rats during the Early Postnatal Period

Heme oxygenase (HO) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the catabolism of heme to bilirubin. Cobalt chloride (CoCl2) and many other agents that generate oxidant stresses induce the HO-1 isoform. Furthermore, HO-1 has been shown to protect against oxidant stress in vitro and in vivo by mechanisms involving increased ferritin synthesis. However, little is known about the inducibility of hepatic HO-1 during the very early postnatal period, and whether HO-1 induction is associated with increased ferritin synthesis in neonates. Therefore, we studied hepatic HO-1 mRNA, HO-1 protein concentration, total HO activity, and ferritin protein levels in neonatal rats. Neonatal rats 0-5 d of age were injected with 250 μmol/kg body weight of CoCl2 · 6H2O in saline or with an equal volume of saline in age-matched controls. Liver samples were collected 4 h after injection for HO-1 mRNA analysis and 20 h after injection for analysis of HO-1 protein concentration, total HO activity, and ferritin protein levels. In CoCl2-treated rats, hepatic HO-1 mRNA was 3-10 times the levels in control rats (p < 0.05), HO-1 protein concentration was 2-5 times the levels in control rats (p < 0.05), and total HO activity was higher by 20-80% than in control rats (p < 0.05). There were no differences in hepatic ferritin protein levels between CoCl2-treated neonatal rats and controls; however, in CoCl2-treated adult rats, hepatic ferritin protein levels were 1.6 times the levels in controls(p < 0.05). Thus, neonatal rats can up-regulate hepatic HO-1 mRNA. HO-1 protein concentration, and total HO activity in response to CoCl2; however, no up-regulation of hepatic ferritin protein levels was observed in neonatal rats after CoCl2 administration or subsequent HO-1 induction. We speculate that neonatal rats induce hepatic HO-1 and up-regulate ferritin by different mechanisms than do adult rats.
Inactivation of Penicillin G during Experimental Infection with Bacteroides fragilis

An animal model implanted with intraperitoneal plastic reservoirs was used for study of the penetration of penicillin G into sites infected with Bacteroides fragilis. Penicillin G was given to rabbits, and its concentration in uninfected reservoirs and in those infected with B. fragilis was determined. The mean percentage penetration ([concentration in capsule divided by peak concentration in serum] X 100) of penicillin into uninfected capsules was 19.9%, whereas that into heavily infected capsules was 1.5%. The percentage penetration of radiolabeled penicillin into infected capsules was 12.5%, whereas the proportion of bioactive drug in the same capsules was again very low (1%). These results show that there is a modest reduction in penetration of penicillin into infected sites and a striking inactivation of the drug by B. fragilis in this experimental model.
Long-Term Ritonavir Exposure Increases Fatty Acid and Glycerol Recycling in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes as Compensatory Mechanisms for Increased Triacylglycerol Hydrolysis

Lipodystrophy with high nonesterified fatty acid (FA) efflux is reported in humans receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to treat HIV infection. Ritonavir, a common component of HAART, alters adipocyte FA efflux, but the mechanism for this effect is not established. To investigate ritonavir-induced changes in FA flux and recycling through acylglycerols, we exposed differentiated murine 3T3-L1 adipocytes to ritonavir for 14 d. FA efflux, uptake, and incorporation into acylglycerols were measured. To identify a mediator of FA efflux, we measured adipocyte triacylglycerol lipase (ATGL) transcript and protein. To determine whether ritonavir-treated adipocytes increased glycerol backbone synthesis for FA reesterification, we measured labeled glycerol and pyruvate incorporation into triacylglycerol (TAG). Ritonavir-treated cells had increased FA efflux, uptake, and incorporation into TAG (all P < 0.01). Ritonavir increased FA efflux without consistently increasing glycerol release or changing TAG mass, suggesting increased partial TAG hydrolysis. Ritonavir-treated adipocytes expressed significantly more ATGL mRNA (P < 0.05) and protein (P < 0.05). Ritonavir increased glycerol (P < 0.01) but not pyruvate (P = 0.41), utilization for TAG backbone synthesis. Consistent with this substrate utilization, glycerol kinase transcript (required for glycerol incorporation into TAG backbone) was up-regulated (P < 0.01), whereas phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase transcript (required for pyruvate utilization) was down-regulated (P < 0.001). In 3T3-L1 adipocytes, long-term ritonavir exposure perturbs FA metabolism by increasing ATGL-mediated partial TAG hydrolysis, thus increasing FA efflux, and leads to compensatory increases in FA reesterification with glycerol and acylglycerols. These changes in FA metabolism may, in part, explain the increased FA efflux observed in ritonavir-associated lipodystrophy.