cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Project-Based Course for Integration of Design and Construction at WPI

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute implemented a graduate-level course entitled “Integration of Design and Construction.” The course was offered during the fall semester of 1995 and 1996. The goal of the course was to provide a project-based, practice-oriented opportunity for teams of students to deal with the problems of functional integration. The three-credit-hour, one-semester course involved a mix of class discussion, laboratory, and lecture activities. Faculty relied on industrial participation to present the real-world projects to the students. First, the lessons learned at the end of fall semester 1995 are discussed. Next, the class profile and course organization for fall semester 1996 are described. Additionally, student performance and student feedback are presented and used to validate the value of the course and to plan a subsequent offering in fall semester 1997.
The impact of service design and process management on clinical quality: An exploration of synergetic effects ☆

While service design and process management have received research attention in the past, there is limited empirical work examining both factors in the hospital setting. Through operationalizing focus as a service design approach and quality improvement (QI) initiatives as process management efforts, we hypothesize that focus and QI initiatives affect clinical quality both individually and collectively. Utilizing heart attack procedures as the study context, we examine a set of hypotheses based on a panel dataset consisted of 201 hospitals from 2005 to 2011 in the state of Florida. After accounting for potential lag effects and endogeneity biases, we find empirical support to the proposed hypotheses.
RNA Interference: A Tool for Querying Nervous System Function and an Emerging Therapy

RNA interference (RNAi), a mediator of gene silencing, has swiftly become one of the most exciting and applicable biological discoveries. There has been rapid progress in identifying RNAi pathway components and elucidating the mechanisms of microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis and gene suppression. As a result, RNAi technologies have been successfully employed in a variety of systems as biological tools, and studies are underway to test the therapeutic utility of RNAi. In the span of several years, significant advances in the delivery of inhibitory RNAs in the nervous system have been made. We have glimpses into how endogenous miRNAs interface with neuronal development and function; in addition, RNAi has shown therapeutic efficacy in several mouse models of human neurological conditions. In this review, we summarize the current state-of-the-art of RNAi and its utility to neuroscientists.
Process Development of (1S,2S,5R,6S)- Spiro[bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-2‘,5‘-dioxo-2,4‘-imidazolidine]-6-carboxylic Acid, (R)-α-Methylbenzenemethanamine Salt (LSN344309)

Process development and a pilot-plant process for the synthesis of 4 and its resolution to obtain (1S,2S,5R,6S)-spiro[bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-2‘,5‘-dioxo-2,4‘-imidazolidine]-6-carboxylic acid, (R)-α-methylbenzenemethanamine salt (5) are described. Starting from the inexpensive raw 2-cyclopenten-1-one and sulfur ylide 1 the racemic bicyclo keto ester 2 was synthesized. Reaction of 2 with potassium cyanide and ammonium carbonate under Bucherer−Berg's reaction conditions affords racemic 3 in 80% yield. Hydrolysis of 3 followed by the resolution with (R)-(+)-α-methylbenzylamine gave 4 in excellent yield and purity under optimized conditions. The improvement of the original discovery process to accommodate safety and environmental requirements for scale-up in manufacturing facilities is also discussed.
Postmyocardial infarction angina and coronary spasm

Coronary spasm can cause chest pain, and may even culminate in a myocardial infarction, but it is not often considered a cause of chest pain in the early postinfarction period. Three patients who had chest pain early (1 day to 3 weeks) after myocardial infarction were shown to have coronary spasm with ergonovine maleate provocation. Two patients had spasm in the coronary artery associated with the acute infarction; the third had spasm in a remote vessel. Two required intracoronary nitroglycerin to establish patency in the affected vessel. It is concluded that coronary vasospasm can result in postinfarction angina.
Radiographic evaluation of renal trauma: evaluation of 1103 consecutive patients.

Objective To review the records of patients with suspected urinary tract trauma to determine whethe reliminating imaging studies would have missed any significant injuries. Patients and methods The records of 1103 consecutive patients who underwent radiographic evaluation of the urinary tract because of suspected renal trauma were evaluated retrospectively. A comprehensive review was made of the group of patients who were normotensive and had only microscopic haematuria. Results Abnormal intravenous pyelograms (IVP) were found in 10% of patients with normotension and microscopic haematuria. In patients with injuries due to penetrating trauma, five of 16 with an abnormal IVP required operative intervention, while in patients with injuries due to blunt trauma, only one of 60 had a significant renal injury. None of the 605 patients with a blunt injury, microscopic haematuria, no his- tory of hypotension, and no significant associated injuries required operative intervention solely for the renal injury. Conclusion Radiographic evaluation of the urinary tract is recommended for all patients with penetrating trauma and any degree of haematuria, but only for patients with blunt trauma if associated with gross haematuria, microscopic haematuria and hypotension, or microscopic haematuria and significant associated injuries.
Supernovae, neutron stars and biomolecular chirality

Recent theoretical and experimental investigations of the origin of biomolecular chirality are reviewed briefly. Biotic and abiotic theories are evaluated critically with the conclusion that asymmetric photochemical processes with circulary polarized light (CPL), particularly asymmetric photolyses, constitute the most viable mechanisms. Solar CPL sources appear too weak and random to be effective. We suggest an alternative CPL source, namely, the synchrotron radiation from the neutron star remnants of supernova explosions. This could asymmetrically process racemic compounds in the organic mantles of the dust grains in interstellar clouds, and the resulting chiral molecules could be transferred to Earth by cold accretion as the solar system periodically traverses these interstellar clouds.
Electrophysiologic evaluation of pirmenol for sustained ventricular tachycardia secondary to coronary artery disease

The efficacy and electrophysiologic effects of pirmenol were evaluated in 21 patients with a history of sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) and coronary artery disease. Intravenous pirmenol (0.7- to 1.1-mg/kg bolus, followed by a 35- to 40-micrograms/kg/min infusion) significantly prolonged the PR, QRS, QT and corrected QT intervals, HV interval and right ventricular effective refractory period, and shortened the sinus cycle length and atrioventricular nodal block cycle length. All 21 patients had inducible VT (20 sustained, 1 nonsustained) during programmed stimulation in the control state. After intravenous pirmenol, 5 patients (24%) no longer had inducible VT. In those in whom VT was still inducible, the VT cycle length was prolonged significantly. The 5 patients who responded to intravenous pirmenol were given oral pirmenol (200 to 250 mg every 8 hours) for 1 to 3 days and retested with programmed stimulation. In 4 of these 5, VT could not be induced with oral pirmenol administration; in 1 patient sustained VT was induced and pirmenol therapy was discontinued. Oral pirmenol suppressed recurrent VT during a follow-up of 315 +/- 133 days in 4 patients. However, pirmenol therapy was discontinued in 2 patients because of possible deleterious effects (worsened heart failure in 1 patient and elevated liver function test results in 1). Thus, pirmenol, a type IA antiarrhythmic drug, had an overall efficacy of approximately 19% in patients with sustained VT secondary to coronary artery disease.
Targeted Focal Adhesion Kinase Activation in Cardiomyocytes Protects the Heart From Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury

Objective—We previously reported that cardiac-restricted deletion of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) exacerbated myocyte death following ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Here, we interrogated whether targeted elevation of myocardial FAK activity could protect the heart from I/R injury. Methods and Results—Transgenic mice were generated with myocyte-specific expression of a FAK variant (termed SuperFAK) that conferred elevated allosteric activation. FAK activity in unstressed transgenic hearts was modestly elevated, but this had no discernable effect on anabolic heart growth or cardiac function. Importantly, SuperFAK hearts exhibited a dramatic increase in FAK activity and a reduction in myocyte apoptosis and infarct size 24 to 72 hours following I/R. Moreover, serial echocardiography revealed that the transgenic mice were protected from cardiac decompensation for up to 8 weeks following surgery. Mechanistic studies revealed that elevated FAK activity protected cardiomyocytes from I/R-induced apoptosis by enhancing...
Transition state rates and mass asymmetric fission barriers of compound nuclei 90,94,98Mo

Abstract Excitation functions were measured for complex fragments with atomic number Z = 5–25 emitted from the compound nuclei 90,94,98Mo produced in the reactions 78,82,86 Kr + 12 C . Mass-asymmetric fission barriers were extracted by fitting the excitation functions with a transition state formalism. The extracted barriers are several MeV higher on average than the calculations of the Rotating Finite-Range Model and substantially lower than predicted by the Rotating Liquid Drop Model. The symmetric fission barriers measured support the hypothesis of a congruence term that doubles for the fission of strongly indented saddle-point shapes. The excitation functions were analyzed to search for atomic number Z- and energy E-dependent deviations from transition-state-method predictions. All of the measured excitation functions can be scaled onto a single universal straight line according to the transition-state predictions. No Z- and/or E-dependent effects that could be attributed to transient effects are visible.
High-fidelity image compression with nearly lossless arithmetic coding

ABSTRACT In this work, we investigate the nearly lossless image compression technique, which provides abetter compression ratio than purely lossless compression schemes and has a better reconstructed image quality than lossy ones. In particular, we introduce a new idea called the soft decisionquantization and integrate it with the binary arithmetic QM coder. The superior performance of the developed algorithm is demonstrated with numerical experiments. Keywords: nearly lossless, semi-lossless, image compression, soft decision quantization, QM coder. 1 INTRODUCTION Image compression methods can be categorized into two classes: lossless and lossy schemes.Entropy encoding is an example of lossless compression which removes redundancy among sym- bols without actual loss of information so that the image can be reconstructed exactly as theoriginal one. Quantization is applied in lossy compression schemes to achieve a better coding gain at the expense of information loss and, consequently, the reconstructed image cannot be thesame as the original one. In applications such as picture archiving and medical/legal image trans-mission, high compression efficiency and image fidelity are both required. We have to consider acareful balance between the desired image quality and the cost of storage and transmission. Theresulting scheme is called high fidelity image compression, which reduces the distortion of tra-ditional lossy compression schemes while providing a better rate deduction than purely losslessschemes. In this work, we propose a new approach to achieve high fidelity image compression.The basic idea is to divide the entire quantization range into 3 intervals: LOW, HIGH and Don'tCARE when performing quantization. The LOW interval is always encoded with 0, the HIGH
The Many Faces of Tunneling

We consider classically forbidden events which control chemically and spectroscopically important processes. We focus on dynamical tunneling, which is tunneling in the absence of potential barriers, and tunneling between two Born−Oppenheimer potential energy surfaces. The former drives intramolecular vibrational relaxation (IVR) in molecules; the latter controls much of photochemistry, spectroscopy, and energy transfer.
Development of complexity in motor nerve endings at the rat neuromuscular junction.

Abstract Using a combined silver-cholinesterase stain, the morphology of motor endings (axon terminals plus cholinesterase activity) was examined in both slow-twitch (soleus and adductor longus) and fast-twitch (rectus femoris and plantaris) muscles of 2,3,4,5,6 and 11-week-old male rats. Categorization of motor endings from each muscle at each age into defined morphological classes was carried out. The differences between their distribution among these classes between muscles and between ages was then analyzed statistically. Polyneuronal innervation of endplates dropped dramatically between 2 and 3 weeks. The number of ‘branched’ endings (two muscle fibers innervated by a single terminal axon) significantly decreased between 3 and 4 weeks in all the muscle groups and did not change thereafter. At 4 and 5 weeks, the predominant appearance of the motor endings of all the muscles was similar—being basically a single ‘bare’ axon going into the endplate area (with one axon being associated with one endplate per muscle fiber). Complexity of the motor endings then developed with maturation. At 6 weeks of age, in the slow-twitch muscles only, there was first seen a significantly greater percentage of double endplates (one terminal axon giving rise to two endplates on a single muscle fiber). This difference increased significantly between 6–11 weeks. The number of more complex motor endings with accessory axonal branches to the endplate from the parent axon increased steadily throughout maturation in all the muscle groups. At 3 weeks these made up less than 5% of the endings. However, by 11 weeks they were seen in 25–40% of the endings. This study indicates that (1) there is still synaptic re-arrangement (loss of branched endings) between 3 and 4 weeks in all muscle groups; (2) there develops a significantly greater number of double endplates in slow-twitch muscles around 6 weeks; and (3) complexity of motor ending structure increases with growth of the animal by adaptations of the terminal axon. Thus, even under normal conditions, young adult rats spontaneously display significant evidence of synaptic remodeling and plasticity.
Steroid synthesis by the fetal part of the bovine placenta of late pregnancy in vitro: Effect of a low dose of dexamethasone in vivo.

Pregnant cows were treated with 5 mg dexamethasone (DEX) (n = 5) or 0.9% saline (n = 3) on Day 255 of gestation. Placentomes were removed on Day 250, Day 260 by laparotomy, and immediately after parturition. Fetal placental tissue (500 mg) was homogenized and frozen for the determination of initial tissue content of progesterone (P4) and estrone (E1) by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Tissue samples (500 mg) were incubated for 1, 5, or 9 h in the presence of 0, 10, or 100 ng/ml androstenedione (A) or pregnenolone (P5). After incubation, tissue was homogenized in the incubation medium (HOM) and P4 and E1 content assessed by RIA. Finally, tissue was incubated in medium containing 3H-A or 3H-P5 with or without cortisol (70 ng/ml) to measure conversion of precursors into estrogens (E). Overall initial tissue concentration of P4 decreased as pregnancy progressed (P < 0.05). An interaction between DEX treatment and stage of gestation (P < 0.05) indicated that P4 decreased only in tissue from DEX-treated cows, whereas P4 in tissue from control cows remained constant. Tissue concentrations of E1 increased from Day 250 to parturition (P < 0.05) and were not influenced by in vivo DEX treatment. Progesterone concentration in HOM increased during incubation indicating P4 synthesis (P < 0.001). Addition of 100 ng/ml P5 stimulated P4 production (P < 0.05). There was a larger increase in P4 in HOM from DEX-treated cows than in HOM from control cows (P < 0.05). Concentration of E1 decreased during incubation (P < 0.0001) and was not influenced by the addition of A or P5. Estrogen synthesis was indicated by the conversion of A or P5 into E (pmol/g/h). The conversion of precursors (A or P5) into E increased during gestation and was not influenced by in vivo DEX treatment. Cortisol application in vitro did not affect E synthesis. It is concluded that treatment with 5 mg DEX in vivo on Day 255 of pregnancy does not seem to influence placental E synthesis in vitro. However, the decrease in initial P4 tissue concentration and the increase in P4 synthesis by fetal placental tissue from DEX-treated cows in vitro suggest that DEX treatment in vivo stimulates P4 synthesis with increased metabolism of P4 into other metabolites.
The Dilemma of Social Work Education: Restructuring the Curriculum

(1972). The Dilemma of Social Work Education: Restructuring the Curriculum. Journal of Education for Social Work: Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 19-23.
DETAILED ESTIMATION OF WORKLIFE EXPECTANCY FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL: ACCOUNTING FOR MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN

Abstract Measuring an individual's human capital at a point in time as the present actuarial value of expected net lifetime earnings has a lengthy history. Calculating such measures requires accurate estimates of worklife expectancy. Here, worklife estimates for men and women in the USA categorized by educational attainment, race, marital status, parental status and current labour force status are presented. Race has a much larger impact on the worklife expectancy of men than women. Education is associated with larger worklife differentials for women. The association between marriage and worklife expectancy is significant, but of opposite sign, for men and women: married women (men) have a lower (higher) worklife expectancy than single women (men). Parenthood is associated with a reduction in the worklife expectancy of women; the association is smaller and varies from positive for some education/marital status groups to negative for others for men.
The contract year syndrome in the NBA and MLB: A classic undermining pattern

We assembled National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball player performance data from recent years, tracking 3 year periods in players’ careers: pre-contract year (baseline), contract year (CY; salient external incentive present), and post-contract year (salient external incentive removed). In both sports, we examined both individual scoring statistics (points scored, batting average) and non-scoring statistics (e.g. blocked shots, fielding percentage) over the 3 years. Using extrinsic motivation theories, we predicted and found a boost in some scoring statistics during the CY (relative to the pre-CY), but no change in non-scoring statistics. Using intrinsic motivation theories, we predicted and found an undermining of many statistics in the post-CY, relative to both the CY and the pre-CY baseline. Boosted CY scoring performance predicted post-CY salary raises in both sports, but salary raises were largely unrelated to post-CY performance. The CY performance boost is real, but team managers should know that it might be followed by a performance crash—the CY “syndrome.”
Quadrature-modulation-type lowpass and highpass filters

Quadrature-modulation filters, introduced by the author four years ago, can be realised in two different configurations. It is shown that, in the transition bands of the `star?-structured filters, `unwanted? output frequency components (i.e. components not present at the input) are generated, but that, in `lattice-structured? filters, semiequivalent to the corresponding star configuration, such unwanted components are (or can be) suppressed.
Emerging concepts in engineering extracellular matrix variants for directing cell phenotype

Directing specific, complex cell behaviors, such as differentiation, in response to biomaterials for regenerative medicine applications is, at present, a mostly unrealized goal. To date, current technological advances have been inspired by the reductionist point of view, focused on developing simple and merely adequate environments that facilitate simple cellular adhesion. However, even if extracellular matrix (ECM)-derived peptides, such as Arg–Gly–Asp (RGD), have largely demonstrated their utility in supporting cell adhesion, their lack of biological specificity is simply not optimal for controlling more integrated processes, such as cell differentiation. These more complex cellular processes require specific integrin-signaling scaffolds and presumably synergistic integrin and growth factor-receptor signaling. This article will introduce some current efforts to engineer ECM variants that incorporate additional levels of complexity for directing greater integrin specificity and synergistic ECM growth fac...
Miniaturized biosensors employing electropolymerized permselective films and their use for creatinine assays in human serum

Miniaturized, disposable amperometric biosensors for determination of creatinine in human serum are described. The base electrodes are fabricated using microelectronics techniques, to build a multilayer film structure on a polyimide foil. By using a thin electropolymerized film of poly(1,3-diaminobenzene), the electrochemical interferences from ascorbate, urate, acetaminophen, and other oxidizable species are greatly diminished. The multienzyme system (creatininase, creatinase, sarcosine oxidase) is immobilized on top of the permselective layer using cross-linking of the proteins with glutaraldehyde. The electropolymerization conditions for obtaining almost ideal permselectivity of the inner layer are defined, as well as the optimal enzyme layer preparation. A composite polymeric outer membrane [Nafion + poly-(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)] is used for diffusion control and to protect the enzyme layer from fouling. The reagentless planar sensors for creatinine and creatine have fast response time (t95 = 1 ...
Simultaneous determination of sixteen major and minor elements in river sediments by energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry after fusion in lithium tetraborate glass

Abstract Fluvial sediments, including the NBS SRM-1645 Standard River Sediment, were fused in lithium tetraborate to form glass discs on which determinations of 16 elements (K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr and Pb) were obtained simultaneously at a single set of x-ray conditions by energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (e.d.x.r.f.). Relatively high sample-to-flux ratios of 1:3 were employed to obtained determinations of several minor as well as major elements on a single disc. Lower sample concentrations 1:6 and 1:10 were also used with the NBS SRM-1645. Inter-element corrections for absorption by iron were significant for detectable elements heavier than iron. In the NBS SRM-1645 samples, corrections were made for the fluorescence of chromium by the Fe K lines as well as the absorption of the Fe K lines by chromium. A background correction was also necessary for manganese in NBS SRM-1645. At the lowest sample-to-flux ratio (1:10) good agreement was obtained between the e.d.x.r.f. determinations and the NBS values for all quantifiable elements except zinc. At higher sample-to-flux ratios, agreement with the NBS values was generally poorer with increasing sample concentration. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the eight quantifiable major and minor elements (K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Zn, Sr and Zr) determined under a single set of x-ray conditions ranged from 2 to 9% (RSD) with a mean RSD of 4.4% for a set of replica discs fused with Lake Pueblo/Arkansas River sediment samples.
Impact of food safety information on US poultry demand

The impact of poultry product recall events on consumer demand in the US was empirically tested for four major categories of poultry: broiler (young chicken), eggs, turkey and other chicken (mature or nonbroiler chicken). From 2000 to 2004, poultry Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) recall events had a consistent positive impact on demand for turkey but no significant impact on other types of poultry products. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – FSIS recall, as a complement to food labelling, did not undermine poultry consumption but promoted turkey demands. On the contrary, media recall undermined poultry demands. Moreover, it demonstrated that turkey consumers were a special behaviour group of poultry consumers.
Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms, Language Acquisition, and Self-Sufficiency A Study of Bosnian Refugees

Summary: This non-experimental study was undertaken in order to explore the nature of the relationship between mental health status, English language acquisition, and economic self-sufficiency among recent Bosnian refugees. The subjects (N = 34) were Bosnian refugees recruited from a Catholic refugee resettlement program in the Syracuse area of central New York.Findings: Though no correlation was found among the hypothesized variable relationships, serious trauma-related symptoms were identified in about one-third of refugees. Although no empirical link was identified between trauma-related symptoms and self-sufficiency, the incidence of those symptoms is a cause for concern. Frequently indicated symptoms included sleep disturbance, loneliness, and hopelessness about the future.Applications: From our findings, we can only consider these issues as mental health or quality of life concerns, not as barriers to self-sufficiency. Independently of this study’s lack of support for the latter, these quality of li...
Salt, blood pressure and health: a cautionary tale

By virtue of its central role in maintaining intravascular and extracellular volume, sodium is essential to human survival. Taste, habit, environment, genes, and behaviour probably all influence sodium intake. In view of the heterogeneity that characterizes humankind, it is remarkable that the vast majority of the world’s citizens, everywhere, given free access to salt, consume between 100 and 200 mmol of sodium per 24 hours. 1 Despite this uniformity of sodium intake across all dietary, cultural, environmental, and hereditary circumstances, and the fact that life spans that are steadily increasing worldwide, many authorities now contend that current salt intake is too high by half. Advocates of universal restriction of sodium intake to ,100 mmol/24-h base their case on the belief that this will produce a population-wide reduction of blood pressure which, in turn, will reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. There is even stronger enthusiasm for strict control of sodium intake for hypertensive people. Indeed, these dogma are often preached with a fervour usually associated with religious zealotry. I will argue here that the available data provides insufficient evidence to justify any universal target for sodium intake for either the whole population or for its hypertensive subset. The Link of Salt to Blood Pressure Recognition of the strong, continuous, independent, and significant relationship of blood pressure to the occurrence of cerebral, cardiac, and renal disease, provided the reasonable stimulus for seeking safe, simple, and effective means for reducing blood pressure on a population-wide basis. Dietary intake of sodium, or salt, both because of its ubiquity in the human diet, and its centrality in determining blood volume, presented an obvious opportunity to intervene on blood pressure. The first indication that differences in dietary sodium might explain variation in blood pressure came from cross-cultural studies. In unacculturated societies, blood pressures tended to be lower, and did not appear to rise with age. This contrasted sharply with the age-related rise in pressure and high levels of ‘hypertension’ common in most industrialized nations. Sodium intake, among many other factors, was found to differ between ‘developed’ and ‘undeveloped’ communities. In fact, people confined to an economy of hunting and gathering, with little access to salt, had daily intakes of sodium often limited to 20‐40 mmol sodium. 2
Comfort Dimensions of Actual and Ideal Insulative Clothing for Older Women

Three dimensions of human comfort with respect to clothing are proposed: physical, psychological, and social comfort. A pilot study of 60 women, aged 60 to 80, was conducted to develop and test a semantic differential measure of these three human comfort dimensions with respect to actual and ideal insulative clothing for indoor wear. An evaluative factor, a measure of overall garment evaluation, also emerged from analysis of the semantic differential. Validity and reliability of the measure were strong for physical and psychological comfort and the evaluative factor but not for social comfort. Thirty-one of the 60 women chose to wear one of three types of insulative clothing for indoor wear on a one day trial basis under reduced household temperatures. Under these environmental conditions physical comfort was correlated substantially higher with overall evaluation than was psychological comfort. Data indicate that (1) garment types presented and worn in this study did not approximate participants' concept...
The anticholinergic and antiglutamatergic drug caramiphen reduces seizure duration in soman-exposed rats: Synergism with the benzodiazepine diazepam

Therapy of seizure activity following exposure to the nerve agent soman (GD) includes treatment with the anticonvulsant diazepam (DZP), an allosteric modulator of γ-aminobutyric acid A (GABA(A)) receptors. However, seizure activity itself causes the endocytosis of GABA(A) receptors and diminishes the inhibitory effects of GABA, thereby reducing the efficacy of DZP. Treatment with an N-methyl-d-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonist prevents this reduction in GABAergic inhibition. We examined the efficacy of the NMDA receptor antagonist caramiphen edisylate (CED; 20mg/kg, im) and DZP (10mg/kg, sc), administered both separately and in combination, at 10, 20 or 30min following seizure onset for attenuation of the deleterious effects associated with GD exposure (1.2 LD(50); 132μg/kg, sc) in rats. Outcomes evaluated were seizure duration, neuropathology, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, body weight, and temperature. We also examined the use of the reversible AChE inhibitor physostigmine (PHY; 0.2mg/kg, im) as a therapy for GD exposure. We found that the combination of CED and DZP yielded a synergistic effect, shortening seizure durations and reducing neuropathology compared to DZP alone, when treatment was delayed 20-30min after seizure onset. PHY reduced the number of animals that developed seizures, protected a fraction of AChE from GD inhibition, and attenuated post-exposure body weight and temperature loss independent of CED and/or DZP treatment. We conclude that: 1) CED and DZP treatment offers considerable protection against the effects of GD and 2) PHY is a potential therapeutic option following GD exposure, albeit with a limited window of opportunity.
THE ARROW OF TIME

When an astronomer wants to compute the motions in the solar system, he starts with a discussion of all observations made during previous centuries; from these experimental data, he computes the positions and velocities of the planets, comets, satellites, etc. at a certain date, and these initial data are known within certain limits of accuracy. When this is done, the computation of motions in the future can be performed if the computer is equipped with a reliable electronic computer. The theory that the past commands the future is well known. The accurate knowledge of the past can enable the humanity to make reliable predictions, but these predictions become hazier and hazier when the computation is carried further into the distant future. An experimenter working with optical systems starts with the notion of a source of light, as distinct from an object illuminated by the light. He cannot do the simplest experiment if he does not realize, very precisely, the meaning of these words. This is true for large scale experiments, and it remains indispensable at the atomic or subatomic scale.
Rapid analysis of gene expression (RAGE) facilitates universal expression profiling

Current techniques for analysis of gene expression either monitor one gene at a time, for example northern hybridization or RT-PCR methods, or are designed for the simultaneous analysis of thousands of genes, for example microarray hybridization or serial analysis of gene expression. To provide a flexible, intermediate scale alternative, a PCR-based method for the rapid analysis of gene expression has been developed which allows expression changes to be determined in either a directed search of known genes, or an undirected survey of unknown genes. A single set of reagents and reaction conditions allows analyses of most genes in any eukaryote. The method is useful for assaying on the order of tens to hundreds of genes in multiple samples. Control experiments indicate reliable detection of changes in gene expression 2-fold and greater, and sensitivity of detection better than 1 in 10 000. Analyses of over 400 genes in a mouse system transgenic for the E2F1 gene have identified several new downstream targets of E2F1, including Brca1 and Cdk7, in addition to several unidentified genes that are upregulated in the transgenic mice. Changes in expression of several genes related to apoptosis suggest a possible potentiation of apoptotic pathways in the transgenic keratinocytes.
Incorporating Statistical Uncertainty in the Use of Physician Cost Profiles

Physician cost profiles (also called efficiency or economic profiles) compare the costs of care provided by a physician to his or her peers. These profiles are increasingly being used as the basis for policy applications such as tiered physician networks. Tiers (low, average, high cost) are currently defined by health plans based on percentile cut-offs which do not account for statistical uncertainty. In this paper we compare the percentile cut-off method to another method, using statistical testing, for identifying high-cost or low-cost physicians. We created a claims dataset of 2004-2005 data from four Massachusetts health plans. We employed commercial software to create episodes of care and assigned responsibility for each episode to the physician with the highest proportion of professional costs. A physicians' cost profile was the ratio of the sum of observed costs divided by the sum of expected costs across all assigned episodes. We discuss a new method of measuring standard errors of physician cost profiles which can be used in statistical testing. We then assigned each physician to one of three cost categories (low, average, or high cost) using two methods, percentile cut-offs and a t-test (p-value ≤ 0.05), and assessed the level of disagreement between the two methods. Across the 8689 physicians in our sample, 29.5% of physicians were assigned a different cost category when comparing the percentile cut-off method and the t-test. This level of disagreement varied across specialties (17.4% gastroenterology to 45.8% vascular surgery). Health plans and other payers should incorporate statistical uncertainty when they use physician cost-profiles to categorize physicians into low or high-cost tiers.
Comparative study of radiation enhancement due to metamaterials

[1] We present a comparative study on radiation enhancement due to metamaterial antenna substrates. The study is performed via electromagnetic inverse source theory and constrained optimization. The aim of the study is to understand the effect of reference antennas on enhancement level estimates. The geometry of the problem is that of a piecewise-constant, radially symmetric, three-region system (spherical core-shell system). Particular attention is given to the case when the core and the shell are made up of lossless materials having oppositely signed constitutive parameters.
Tobacco Control Policy Instruments in a Shrinking World: How Much Policy Learning?

Abstract Since the 1960s, a worldwide movement for tobacco control has developed, culminating in the 2003 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first international public health treaty. This article analyzes tobacco control instruments, policy learning, and political processes in advanced industrial democracies. Despite scientific information, epistemic communities, and government reports, tobacco control legislation only “took off” in the 1980s and subsequently has accelerated. In addition to policy emulation across countries, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international bodies such as the European Union (EU) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have facilitated convergence, which continues despite the opposition of economic interests, led by the tobacco industry. Earlier versions of this article were presented at the annual meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, 2003, and the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, 2003. Mark Lehman of WV...
Primer for building factor trees to represent social-science knowledge

Factor trees are relatively simple causal diagrams that indicate the many factors contributing to a phenomenon or effect at a snapshot in time. They consist of nodes and directional arcs (arrows) arranged in nearly hierarchical layers so that the effect can be seen as depending on a few high-level factors, but with those depending in turn on more detailed factors. This paper is a primer on building general and context-specialized factor trees; it includes subtleties and admonitions based on experience in several recent integrative studies on social science knowledge relating to terrorism, public support of insurgency and terrorism, and stabilization and reconstruction. It also discusses experiences with efforts to validate such conceptual models. Finally, the paper notes limitations and suggests supplementary methods.
Purification of components of the translation elongation factor complex of Plasmodium falciparum by tandem affinity purification.

Plasmodium falciparum is the causative agent of severe human malaria, responsible for over 2 million deaths annually. Of the 5,300 polypeptides predicted to control the parasite life cycle in mosquitoes and humans, 60% are of unknown function. A major challenge of malaria postgenomic biology is to understand how the 5,300 predicted proteins coexist and interact to perform the essential tasks that define the complex life cycle of the parasite. One approach to assign function to these proteins is by identifying their physiological partners. Here we describe the use of tandem affinity purification (TAP) and mass spectrometry for identification of native protein interactions and purification of protein complexes in P. falciparum. Transgenic parasites were generated which express the translation elongation factor PfEF-1β harboring a C-terminal PTP tag which consists of the protein C epitope, a tobacco etch virus protease cleavage site, and two protein A domains. Purification of PfEF-1β-PTP from crude extracts followed by mass spectrometric analysis revealed, in addition to the tagged protein itself, the presence of the native PfEF-1β, the G-protein PfEF-1α, and two new proteins that we named PfEF-1γ and PfEF-1δ based on their homology to other eukaryotic γ and δ translation elongation factor subunits. These data, which constitute the first application of TAP for purification of a protein complex under native conditions in P. falciparum, revealed that the translation elongation complex in this organism contains at least two subunits of PfEF-1β. The success of this approach will set the stage for a systematic analysis of protein interactions in this important human pathogen.
Output residence time control

The problem of residence time control is extended to systems with outputs. Necessary and sufficient conditions for output residence time controllability in linear systems with small amounts of additive noise are derived. Design techniques for state-feedback controllers are developed and applied to a robotics control problem. The approach is based on an extension of the asymptotic first passage time theory to output processes. >
Popular opinion on tax cuts and Social Security.

A review of recent opinion polls reveals the U.S. public's views on budget priorities and Social Security. The public wants more spending on Social Security, Medicare, and other domestic programs, chiefly education and health care, and prefers these spending priorities—by up to a 70 percent majority—to paying down the national debt and cutting taxes. The public supports the Social Security system but doubts it can continue to deliver the goods. To remedy this problem, it is willing not only to use part of the surplus but to raise the cap on payroll taxes. The public does not support benefit cuts or an increase in the retirement age. And the public remains unsure to hostile about the role of the stock market, whether in individual accounts or in the Social Security trust fund.
Prenatal ossification as an indicator of exposure to toxic agents

Following exposure to bromodeoxyuridine (BUDR), acetazolamide (ACZM), trypan blue (TRBL), cortisone (CORT), or diphenylhydantoin (DPH), alizarin-stained, cleared fetuses were examined at 18 days postcoitus for unossified cervical vertebral centra; number of ossified caudal vertebrae; number of ribs; and ossification of sternebrae, metatarsals, metacarpals, and phalangeal rows. At all teratogenic doses, in no vehicle-treated groups, and rarely in lower-dose groups, there were significant increases in frequency of unossified cervical centra, the first vertebra (C1) being most often affected, and C7 least often affected. In the high-dose CORT group, there was a significant correlation between unossified C1 and cleft palate. No association between abnormality and reduced ossification of cervical vertebrae was seen in other series examined, nor was there any correlation between litter size and abnormality. With minor complications, the number of ossified caudal vertebrae was significantly reduced after exposure at teratogenic dose levels to all compounds except DPH. Although caudal and cervical ossification were correlated with each other in those series examined, neither was correlated with abnormality. Frequency of 14 ribs was increased in BUDR, ACZM, and TRBL but not CORT or DPH. Other parameters were essentially unaffected. Significantly increased frequency of abnormality, when contrasted with untreated or vehicle-treated groups, was seen at high-dose levels in all but DPH treatments, and mortality was increased in ACZM D9-11, TRBL, and CORT. These studies show that reduced ossification of cervical centra is an excellent indicator of prenatal exposure to noxious substances, and caudal vertebrae appear to be useful as well. Increased frequency of 14 ribs occurred for all strong teratogens utilized if they were administered on day 7 or day 8 postcoitus.
Variations in the Buffer Value of Herd Milk

Summary Jersey milk was found to have a markedly greater buffer capacity than Holstein milk, in the pH zone of 5 to 6. Pasturing the herd had a negligible influence upon the buffer value of the milk. The extent of the variations in buffer value which are likely to occur in a milk supply are indicated.
Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) in response to job stressors and organizational justice: Some mediator and moderator tests for autonomy and emotions

Abstract Relations among job stressors, perceived justice, negative emotional reactions to work, counterproductive work behavior (CWB), autonomy, and affective traits were investigated. Participants representing a wide variety of jobs across many organizations were surveyed both inside and outside a university setting. Results were consistent with a theoretical job stress framework in which organizational constraints, interpersonal conflict, and perceived injustice are job stressors, CWB is a behavioral strain response, and negative emotion mediates the stressor–strain relationship. Only very weak support was found for the moderating role of affective disposition (trait anger and trait anxiety), and no support was found for the expected moderating role of autonomy in the stressor–CWB relationship.
Alternating Frequency–Time Finite Element Method: High-Fidelity Modeling of Nonlinear Wave Propagation in One-Dimensional Waveguides

In this paper, a spectral finite element method (SFEM) based on the alternating frequency–time (AFT) framework is extended to study impact wave propagation in a rod structure with a general material nonlinearity. The novelty of combining AFT and SFEM successfully solves the computational issue of existing nonlinear versions of SFEM and creates a high-fidelity method to study impact response behavior. The validity and efficiency of the method are studied through comparison with the prediction of a qualitative analytical study and a time-domain finite element method (FEM). A new analytical approach is also proposed to derive an analytical formula for the wavenumber. By using the wavenumber equation and with the help of time–frequency analysis techniques, the physical meaning of the nonlinear behavior is studied. Through this combined effort with both analytical and numerical components, distortion of the wave shape and dispersive behavior have been identified in the nonlinear response. The advantages of AFT-FEM are (1) high-fidelity results can be obtained with fewer elements for high-frequency impact shock response conditions; (2) dispersion or dissipation is not erroneously introduced into the response as can occur with time-domain FEM; (3) the high-fidelity properties of SFEM enable it to provide a better interpretation of nonlinear behavior in the response; and (4) the AFT framework makes it more computationally efficient when compared to existing nonlinear versions of SFEM which often involve convolution operations.
Photosynthetic Co2 Assimilation in Maize and Spinach Leaves and Chloroplasts1

A considerable amount of data has been collected indicating that higher plants can be classified into two groups on the basis of their primary photosynthetic carboxylation reaction (HATCH & SLACK 1970). Species using the Calvin cycle and designated as C3-plants utilize ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase while phos-phoenolpyruvate carboxylase catalyzes the initial reaction involving atmospheric CO2 in plants designated as C4-types. An example of the former group is spinach and of the latter group is maize. In order to determine the validity of this point of view, we have compared some properties of photosynthetic CO2 fixation in chlo-roplasts from spinach and maize. Furthermore, we have compared enhanced dark fixation following illumination in intact leaves of the two plants.