cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The vascular cambium: structure and function

Perspective It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of the vascular cambium which produces secondary xylem and secondary phloem. In the following two chapters we shall discuss in detail the structure, functions, and the importance to the plant of these tissues which also have great significance for mankind. Wood (i.e., secondary xylem) is a material of which the buildings in which we live and work are constructed. It is the source of the paper on which we write, on which newspapers, magazines, and books are printed, and of many synthetic fabrics such as rayon and nylon of which our clothes are made, to name only a few of its many uses. The phloem is of the utmost importance as the tissue through which photosynthate is transported from the leaves to sites of utilization or storage in the plant. It is the availability of photosynthate which makes possible the development of nutritious, edible parts of plants, such as fruits, nuts and grains, bulbs, tubers, other edible roots, and leaves, etc., the source of so much of the food supply of humans and other organisms. It is important, therefore, that we know more about the detailed structure and activity of the vascular cambium, a lateral meristem of such great significance. Structure of the vascular cambium It is generally agreed that the vascular cambium is composed of a layer of cells only one cell thick, and that all of these cells are meristematic cambial initials from which cells of the secondary xylem and secondary phloem are derived.
Public funding for transformative drugs: the case of sofosbuvir.

The approval of sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) in 2013 transformed chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) care, but its high cost was criticized in part because of reports of substantial public involvement in its development. We developed a methodology to assess the public’s contribution through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in developing sofosbuvir. Using key terms from the timeline of sofosbuvir, we identified articles in PubMed; linked them to federal funding using the NIH RePORTER; reviewed the title, organization, and investigator of each resulting award for relatedness; and converted related awards to 2018 US dollars. Of 6043 unique awards, we identified 29 that were directly (US$7.7 million) and 110 that were indirectly (US$53.2 million) related awards made to major academic institutions and companies engaged in the development of the drug. These findings indicate that public funding had a key role in developing sofosbuvir, with an estimated US$60.9 million provided in NIH funding.
Effects of radial growth rate on outerwood properties of coastal Douglas-fir in healthy stands versus stands impacted by Swiss needle cast

A common belief in forestry is that rapid growth in coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) results in decreased outerwood quality. In Oregon, the opposite pattern...
Screening Mammography Utilization Among Female Medicare Beneficiaries and Breast Cancer Survivors in 2002–2016

Background: The use of screening mammography varies by patient characteristics. This study examined the annual mammography utilization trends among female Medicare beneficiaries and breast cancer s...
Late Neogene surge in sedimentary charcoal fluxes partly due to preservation biases, not fire activity

Abstract Fire has been an important Earth System phenomenon for millions of years and our ability to understand its role in geologic history relies upon robust and unequivocal paleofire archives. Charcoal particles preserved in sedimentary deposits form the primary basis of our understanding of fire's variability on geologic timescales as well as its role in the emergence of plant physiology, ecosystems, and biogeographic configurations. An intriguing aspect of global Cenozoic fire history is the surge in fire activity that is thought to have occurred in the late Neogene (beginning ca. 7 Ma) and indicates that modern biogeography, ecology, and plant physiology was born out of the ashes of an extremely fiery period in Earth's history. The late Neogene fire surge is primarily inferred from charcoal fluxes to sediment records in the North Pacific. In this paper, we revisit these data and show that they are unlikely to reflect an increase in fire activity alone. Rather, these charcoal fluxes likely also reflect an anomalous late Neogene increase in the amount of terrigenous material (and charcoal) supplied to marine sediment records and/or an inflation of late Neogene charcoal flux measurements (and sedimentation rates) resulting from the incompleteness of older stratigraphic sections. These results highlight the importance of accounting for sediment preservation biases when interpreting long term paleoenvironmental records and suggest charcoal fluxes in the North Pacific do not provide conclusive evidence that fire activity increased in the late Neogene.
Improving Satellite Estimates of the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation Through Integration

The fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR) is a critical input in many climate and ecological models. The targeted accuracy of FAPAR products is 10% or 0.05 for many applications. However, most current FAPAR products do not meet such requirements, and further improvements are still needed. In this study, a data fusion scheme based on the multiple resolution tree (MRT) approach is developed to integrate multiple satellite FAPAR estimates at site and regional scales. The fusion scheme removed the bias in FAPAR estimates and resulted in a 15% increase in the R2 and 3% reduction in the root mean square error (RMSE) compared with the average of individual FAPAR estimates. The regional scale fusion filled in the missing values, and provided spatially consistent FAPAR distributions at different resolutions.
Glycogen accumulation in smooth muscle of a Pompe disease mouse model

Pompe disease is a lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations within the GAA gene, which encodes acid α-glucosidase (GAA)-an enzyme necessary for lysosomal glycogen degradation. A lack of GAA results in an accumulation of glycogen in cardiac and skeletal muscle, as well as in motor neurons. The only FDA approved treatment for Pompe disease-an enzyme replacement therapy (ERT)-increases survival of patients, but has unmasked previously unrecognized clinical manifestations of Pompe disease. These clinical signs and symptoms include tracheo-bronchomalacia, vascular aneurysms, and gastro-intestinal discomfort. Together, these previously unrecognized pathologies indicate that GAA-deficiency impacts smooth muscle in addition to skeletal and cardiac muscle. Thus, we sought to characterize smooth muscle pathology in the airway, vascular, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary in the Gaa-/- mouse model. Increased levels of glycogen were present in smooth muscle cells of the aorta, trachea, esophagus, stomach, and bladder of Gaa-/- mice, compared to wild type mice. In addition, there was an increased abundance of both lysosome membrane protein (LAMP1) and autophagosome membrane protein (LC3) indicating vacuolar accumulation in several tissues. Taken together, we show that GAA deficiency results in subsequent pathology in smooth muscle cells, which may lead to life-threatening complications if not properly treated.
Investigation of three PET ligands as oxytocin receptor biomarkers in marmoset models

1752 Objectives The oxytocin (OT) system has been implicated in various human social behavior disorders. Our research has focused on developing PET ligands for imaging neural OT receptors (OTR) to potentially enable correlations between behavior disorders and OTR density. Our research which has recently proven the lack of OTR in the forebrain of the rhesus monkey led us to conduct preliminary studies using three of our target ligands in marmosets due to their well documented and confirmed OTR density. Our objective was to evaluate these candidates in a marmoset model to provide insight to their utility and for future biomarker development. Methods Biomarkers 1-3 were generated through previously reported synthetic pathways. Approximately 1.5 mCi of F-18 derivatives (1 and 2) and 3 mCi of the C-11 derivative were injected into an anesthetized marmoset and scanned for 1.5 hours. Results While 1 appeared to lack the ability to penetrate the brain, significant brain penetration was observed with 2 and modest brain penetration was observed with 3. Of 1-3, specific uptake in the anticipated region of the nucleus accumbens and diagonal band was not observed. Conclusions The potency for 1-3 are known for the human OTR ( Ki = 7, 17, and 5 nm respectively), but may vary significantly for the marmoset species. An affinity assessment of 1-3 for the marmoset OTR will determine if potency variation caused the lack of specific uptake in the marmoset. The marmoset OTR density is primarily located in the nucleus accumbens and diagonal band. Despite the small size of the animal model and limited OTR density, a faint signal was anticipated in the forebrain, but not detected. Although these compounds are not viable biomarkers for the marmoset, if the potency of 2 is similar to the human OTR, it could be used in behavioral studies due to its antagonistic effect and ability to penetrate the brain. Furthermore, the structural similarity and contrasting results of 1 and 2 may aid in the development of an improved structure for our purpose. Research Support NIMH grant 5 R21 MH090776
TU-G-303-02: Robust Radiomics Methods for PET and CT Imaging

‘Radiomics’ refers to studies that extract a large amount of quantitative information from medical imaging studies as a basis for characterizing a specific aspect of patient health. Radiomics models can be built to address a wide range of outcome predictions, clinical decisions, basic cancer biology, etc. For example, radiomics models can be built to predict the aggressiveness of an imaged cancer, cancer gene expression characteristics (radiogenomics), radiation therapy treatment response, etc. Technically, radiomics brings together quantitative imaging, computer vision/image processing, and machine learning. In this symposium, speakers will discuss approaches to radiomics investigations, including: longitudinal radiomics, radiomics combined with other biomarkers (‘pan-omics’), radiomics for various imaging modalities (CT, MRI, and PET), and the use of registered multi-modality imaging datasets as a basis for radiomics. There are many challenges to the eventual use of radiomics-derived methods in clinical practice, including: standardization and robustness of selected metrics, accruing the data required, building and validating the resulting models, registering longitudinal data that often involve significant patient changes, reliable automated cancer segmentation tools, etc. Despite the hurdles, results achieved so far indicate the tremendous potential of this general approach to quantifying and using data from medical images. Specific applications of radiomics to be presented in this symposium will include: the longitudinal analysis of patients with low-grade gliomas; automatic detection and assessment of patients with metastatic bone lesions; image-based monitoring of patients with growing lymph nodes; predicting radiotherapy outcomes using multi-modality radiomics; and studies relating radiomics with genomics in lung cancer and glioblastoma. Learning Objectives: 1. Understanding the basic image features that are often used in radiomic models. 2. Understanding requirements for reliable radiomic models, including robustness of metrics, adequate predictive accuracy, and generalizability. 3. Understanding the methodology behind radiomic-genomic (’radiogenomics’) correlations. Research supported by NIH (US), CIHR (Canada), and NSERC (Canada)
Spirometrically significant acute rejection increases the risk for BOS and death after lung transplantation.

Acute rejection (AR) is a common complication following lung transplantation and is an established risk factor for bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS). AR clinical presentation varies considerably and is sometimes associated with an acute decrease in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). We hypothesized that lung transplant recipients who experience such spirometrically significant AR (SSAR), as defined by a ≥10% decline in FEV1 relative to the prior pulmonary function test, are subsequently at increased risk for BOS and worse overall survival. In a large single center cohort (n = 339) SSAR occurred in 79 subjects (23%) and significantly increased the risk for BOS (p < 0.0001, HR = 3.2, 95% CI 2.3 – 4.6) and death (p = 0.0001, HR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.5 – 3.5). These effects persisted after multivariate adjustment for pre-BOS AR and lymphocytic bronchiolitis burden. An analysis of the subset of patients who experienced severe SSAR (≥20% decline in FEV1) resulted in even greater hazards for BOS and death. Thus we demonstrate a novel physiological measure that allows discrimination of patients at increased risk for worse posttransplant outcomes. Further studies are needed to determine mechanisms of airflow impairment and whether aggressive clinical interventions could improve post-SSAR outcomes.
Simulation of crumpling in integrated EBG textile CPW fed monopole antenna

Performance of a textile monopole antenna after integration on a flexible Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) surface under crumpling conditions has been investigated at 2.45 GHz. Matching performance and antenna gain remains robust in many crumpling cases.
Breast Cancer Stem Cells

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease at both the histological and molecular levels. The current model of breast tumorigenesis suggests that the normal mammary stem cell and the various progenitors that arise thereof can be transformed and generate lineage-restricted tumor phenotypes. This model is supported by observations that the different subtypes of breast cancer share transcriptional signatures intrinsic to normal components of the mammary epithelium. This chapter aims to review seminal studies that allowed the isolation and characterization of both normal and cancer-associated breast cancer stem cells, to describe the link between cellular ancestry and subtype-specific cancer stem cells, and to discuss therapeutic challenges directly resulting from cellular plasticity and stem-cell like phenotypes in human breast cancer.
Spatial Resolution of fMRI Techniques

Following its introduction over two decades ago, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) based on the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast (Ogawa et al. 1990) has become the tool of choice for visualizing neural activity in the human brain. The conventional BOLD approach has been extensively used for pinpointing functional foci of vision, motor, language, and memory in normal and clinical patients. Intraoperative localization of functional foci will greatly improve surgical planning for epilepsy and tumor dissection, and potentially, for deep brain stimulation. Therefore, it is critical to understand the spatial resolution of fMRI relative to the actual neural active site (see review articles, (Kim and Ogawa 2002; Kim and Ugurbil 2003)).
A high-sensitivity fully-passive wireless neurosensing system for unobtrusive brain signal monitoring

A high-sensitivity, fully-passive and wireless neurosensing system is presented for unobtrusive brain signal monitoring. The system is able to wirelessly detect neuropotentials down to 28 µV pp in the frequency band of 100 Hz to 5 kHz. This is a 90-fold sensitivity improvement as compared to previous fully-passive implementations. Importantly, it implies detection of most neural signals generated by the human brain. The system consists of an implanted neurosensor and an exterior interrogator, and utilizes a highly-efficient microwave backscattering method for signal detection. High sensitivity is achieved via: (a) a sub-harmonic implanted mixer with high conversion efficiency, (b) a pair of highly-coupled implanted/interrogator antennas, and (c) a carefully matched interface between the implant antenna and mixer circuit. The proposed neurosensing system brings forward a new possibility of wireless neural signal detection using fully-passive technology.
A PERCIST 1.0 based Computer Assisted Detection (CAD) system: Performance compared to an expert reader in the evaluation of breast cancer

363 Objectives To evaluate the performance of a Computer Assisted Detection (CAD) system based on the PERCIST 1.0 criteria as compared to an expert reader in tumor response assessment in breast cancer. Methods Baseline FDG PET studies acquired on 18 patients in an IRB approved multi-site clinical trial for treatment of breast cancer were used in this analysis. Each study was evaluated independently by both an expert reader and by a PERCIST 1.0 based CAD program (developed in-house). For each study, the expert reader and CAD system independently applied the PERCIST 1.0 criteria by first measuring a 3cm VOI in the liver and calculating the PERCIST 1.0 threshold for disease detectability. Subsequently, tumor targets were identified. Multiple parameters, including PEAK-SUL and SUL-Max, were recorded for all tumor targets. The results of the CAD driven analysis were then compared against those of the expert reader. Results The PERCIST 1.0 threshold measurements were not statistically different between the expert reader and the auto-detect algorithm used by the CAD system (t-test p-value = 0.98, ICC = 0.91). When PEAK-SUL was used to identify tumor targets, 15 (83%) studies were determined to be eligible for PERCIST 1.0 assessment, with the expert reader and CAD system performing identically (100% concordance). When using SUL-Max to identify tumor targets, the expert reader again found the same 15 (83%) studies as eligible for assessment whereas the CAD system identified 16 (89%) of the original 18 cases to be eligible (the same 15 as the expert reader, plus an additional case), an improvement over the expert reader by 7%. Conclusions This work demonstrates that PERCIST 1.0 can be implemented in a CAD tool. It also demonstrates that this tool performs as well as an independent expert reader working alone when evaluating FDG-PET studies in cases of breast cancer. Use of such a tool may increase the efficiency of readers, as well as the objectivity and comparability of results amongst multiple readers
Investigation of states of 39Ar by the 38Ar(d, p)39Ar reaction

Abstract Argon gas enriched to 20% in 38 Ar was bombarded with 11 MeV deuterons. Outgoing protons were magnetically analysed and recorded on nuclear emulsions. Five proton groups corresponding to states in 39 Ar at 0, 1.262, 2.630, 3.258 and 4.377 MeV excitation were observed, and their angular distributions were measured. Using distorted wave calculations l -values and spectroscopic factors were determined. The ground state was excited by an l = 3 transition and the other four states by l = 1 transitions. Spin and parity assignments and the location of neutron single-particle states are discussed.
Various mechanisms in reciprocal rhythm.

Abstract Three cases which exhibit the rare phenomenon of reciprocal rhythm are analyzed and described in detail. Extraordinarily rare and partially unknown features were encountered. These consisted of tachycardia due to continuous reciprocal rhythm, of tachycardia caused by interpolated reciprocal beats with and without eliciting auricular contraction, of the occurrence of reciprocal rhythm in sinus rhythm and in A-V nodal rhythm with first-degree A-V block, of discharge of the nodal pacemaker by blocked reciprocal beats, and of allorhythmia due to the effect of reciprocal beats on sequential beats. In addition, a hitherto unreported disturbance of conduction is described; namely, the occurrence of a disturbance in the course of the reciprocal pathway which results in late discharge of the A-V nodal pacemaker. A short tracing of another patient, taken during a Blalock-Taussig operation, is shown which demonstrates pseudoreciprocal and reciprocal rhythm. The literature is reviewed, and diagrams illustrating the mechanism involved in various types of reciprocal beating, as encountered both in the literature and in our own cases, are shown and discussed in detail.
Effect of Particle Size on Respiratory Protection Provided by Two Types of N95 Respirators Used in Agricultural Settings

This study compared size-selective workplace protection factors (WPFs) of an N95 elastomeric respirator (ER) and an N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) in agricultural environments. Twenty-five healthy farm workers ranging in age from 20 to 30 years voluntarily participated in this study. Altogether, eight farms were included representing three different types: two horse farms, three pig barns, and three grain handling sites. Subjects wore the ER and FFR while performing their daily activities, such as spreading hay, feeding livestock, and shoveling. Aerosol concentrations in an optical particle size range of 0.7–10 μm were determined simultaneously inside and outside the respirator during the first and last 15 min of a 60-min experiment. For every subject, size-selective WPFs were calculated in 1-min intervals and averaged over 30 min. For the ER, geometric mean WPFs were 172, 321, 1013, 2097, and 2784 for particle diameters of 0.7–1.0, 1.0–2.0, 2.0–3.0, 3.0–5.0, and 5.0–10.0 μm, respectively. Corre...
An automated flow calorimeter for heat capacity and enthalpy measurements

An automated flow calorimeter has been developed for the measurement of heat capacity and latent enthalpies of fluids at elevated temperatures (300–700 K) and pressure (<30M Pa) with a design accuracy of 0.1%. The method of measurement is the traditional electrical power input flow calorimeter, utilizing a precision metering pump, which eliminates the need for flow-rate monitoring. The calorimeter cell uses a unique concentric coil design with passive metal radiation shields and active guard heaters to minimize heat leakage, eliminate the traditional constant-temperature bath, and facilitate easy component replacement. An additional feature of the instrument is a complete automation system, greatly simplifying operation of the apparatus. A novel multitasking software scheme allows a single microcomputer simultaneously to control all system temperatures, provide continuous monitoring and updates on system status, and log data. Preliminary results for liquid water mean heat capacities show the equipment to be performing satisfactorily, with data accuracies of better than ±0.3%. Minor equipment modifications and better thermometry are required to reduce systemic errors and to achieve the designed operational range.
Association and linkage of α -2A adrenergic receptor gene polymorphisms with childhood ADHD

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a heritable disorder, prevalent from childhood through adulthood. Although the noradrenergic (NA) system is thought to mediate a portion of the pathophysiology of ADHD, genes in this pathway have not been investigated as frequently as those in the dopaminergic system. Previous association studies of one candidate gene in the NA system, ADRA2A, showed inconsistent results with regard to an MspI polymorphism. In the current study, two nearby single-nucleotide polymorphisms, which define HhaI and DraI restriction fragment length polymorphisms, were also genotyped and were in significant linkage disequilibrium with the MspI RFLP. Transmission disequilibrium tests (TDTs) in a sample of 177 nuclear families showed significant association and linkage of the DraI polymorphism with the ADHD combined subtype (P=0.03), and the quantitative TDT showed association of this polymorphism with the inattentive (P=0.003) and hyperactive-impulsive (P=0.015) symptom dimensions. The haplotype that contained the less common allele of the DraI polymorphism likewise showed a strong relationship with the inattentive (P=0.001) and hyperactive-impulsive (P=0.004) symptom dimensions. This study supports the hypothesis that an allele of the ADRA2A gene is associated and linked with the ADHD combined subtype and suggests that the DraI polymorphism of ADRA2A is linked to a causative polymorphism.
Distribution of Total Service Time for a Fixed Observation Interval

Abstract For a queue with many servers and constant holding time, the distribution of the total service time for a fixed observation interval during a period of statistical equilibrium has been derived. The derivation, while peculiar to the special case where holding time is assumed constant, involves elementary probabilistic arguments. An application is given in which the distribution of the total service time for a fixed observation interval is used to solve a problem in plumbing design.
The DNA-PK Catalytic Subunit Regulates Bax-mediated Excitotoxic Cell Death by Ku70 Phosphorylation

Abstract DNA repair deficiency results in neurodegenerative disease and increased susceptibility to excitotoxic cell death, suggesting a critical but undefined role for DNA damage in neurodegeneration. We compared DNA damage, Ku70–Bax interaction, and Bax-dependent excitotoxic cell death in kainic acid-treated primary cortical neurons derived from both wild-type mice and mice deficient in the DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) encoded by the Prkdc gene. In both wild-type and Prkdc-/- neurons, kainic acid treatment resulted in rapid induction of DNA damage (53BP1 foci formation) followed by nuclear pyknosis. Bax deficiency, by either Bax shRNA-mediated knockdown or gene deletion, protected wild-type and heterozygous but not Prkdc-/- neurons from kainate-induced excitotoxicity. Cotransfection of DNA-PKcs with Bax shRNA restored Bax shRNA-mediated neuroprotection in Prkdc-/- neurons, suggesting that DNA-PKcs is required for kainate-induced activation of the pro-apoptotic Bax pathway. Immunoprecipitation studies revealed that the DNA-PKcs-nonphosphorylatable Ku70 (S6A/S51A) bound 3- to 4-fold greater Bax than wild-type Ku70, suggesting that DNA-PKcs-mediated Ku70 phosphorylation causes release of Bax from Ku70. In support of this, kainic acid induced translocation of a Bax–EGFP fusion protein to the mitochondria in the presence of a cotransfected wild-type, but not mutant Ku70 (S6A/S51A) gene when examined at 4 and 8 h following kainate addition. We conclude that DNA-PKcs links DNA damage to Bax-dependent excitotoxic cell death, by phosphorylating Ku70 on serines 6 and/or 51, to initiate Bax translocation to the mitochondria and directly activate a pro-apoptotic Bax-dependent death cascade.
Oritavancin for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections

Introduction: Inpatient treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs) exerts a significant economic burden on the healthcare system. Oritavancin is a concentration-dependent, rapid bactericidal agent approved for the treatment of ABSSSIs. Its prolonged half-life with one-time intravenous (i.v.) dosing offers a potential solution to this burden. In addition, oritavancin represents an alternative therapy for Streptococci and multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus. Animal models have also shown promising results with oritavancin for other disease states including those that require long courses of i.v. therapy.Areas covered: This review covers oritavancin’s basic chemistry, spectrum of activity, pharmacodynamics/pharmacokinetics and efficacy in clinical trials, and provides expert opinion on future directions. To compose this review, a search of PubMed was performed, and articles writte...
Amplification factors for inelastic dynamic p–Δ effects in earthquake analysis

In the present study, the question of inelastic p–Δ effects is examined from the perspective of inelastic spectral ordinates. Inelastic acceleration response spectra are generated using a model which includes the effects of gravity; for each spectrum the ductility factor and the gravity load level (characterized by the stability coefficient) are held constant. Amplification spectra are generated by taking the ratio between spectra with and without gravity effects. The results are analysed statistically and a formula for the amplification factor as a function of the relevant parameters is obtained. Special care is taken to present a formulation that is simple and useful in the context of practical earthquake engineering design. Some currently used p–Δ amplification factors are discussed in the light of the results obtained.
Failure of Penicillin in Anaerobic Necrotizing Pneumonia

Penicillin is considered to be the drug of choice in anaerobic pulmonary infections. The patient presented here illustrates some of the reasons for the failure of penicillin therapy in an anaerobic necrotizing pneumonia. Experimental and clinical evidence to date suggests a need for reappraisal of penicillin therapy in such infections.
Crime and Public Support for the Rule of Law in Latin America and Africa

AbstractCrime poses a formidable obstacle to democratization in many parts of the developing world. New democracies in Central America and sub-Saharan Africa face some of the highest homicide rates in the world. Politicians, citizens, and policy-makers have raised the alarm about the growing tide of criminality. Public insecurity, coupled with inefficient and often corrupt justice systems, makes democratization uncertain. Even if new democracies do not revert to dictatorship, the quality of democracy may suffer if crime continues to rise. One particularly vulnerable component of democracy is the rule of law, as public insecurity may fuel support for extra-legal justice, and a willingness to disregard the law while aggressively pursuing suspected criminals. To test these relationships, we assess the ways in which criminal victimization, as well as fear of crime, affect citizen support for the rule of law. We utilize public opinion data collected in select countries in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa through two widely used sources – the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) and the Afrobarometer surveys.
PRIMITIVE NEUROECTODERMAL TUMOR OF THE ADRENAL GLAND

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors are rare lesions classified in a group of small round cell tumors associated with highly malignant neoplasms, such as Ewing's sarcoma, neuroblastoma and rhabdomyosarcoma. 1 These tumors typically develop in the pediatric population, and arise from the thoracic and pulmonary regions. We report a case of an adrenal primitive neuroectodermal tumor in adulthood with extensive tumor thrombus involving the right atrium.
Vibrational frequencies of clamped plates of variable thickness

Abstract A method is presented for computing lower and upper bounds for vibrational frequencies of clamped plates with general thickness variations. The method is illustrated for plates with linear tapers.
Vapor deposition and characterization of nanocrystalline nanolaminates

Nanolaminates can be: one-dimensional, i.e. an artificial crystal with a composition modulation of amorphous layers; two-dimensional with one component layer crystalline; or three-dimensional wherein all the layers are nanocrystalline. The nanocrystalline nanolaminate can be synthesized through physical vapor deposition methods. Structural characterization includes diffraction from, and imaging of, atomic structure that reveals crystalline phase and lattice distortions. The mechanical properties are dependent upon the specific nanostructural arrangements of atoms at the grain boundaries and within the constituent layers. The deformation behavior of nanocrystalline nanolaminates are shown to be dependent upon dislocation structure, grain boundary, and interlayer distortion effects. Mechanical properties to be reviewed are tensile behavior, and surface nanohardness with accompanying structural characterization through X-ray diffraction and high resolution electron microscopy. The role of layer pair spacing and grain size are now evaluated as measured by tensile strength and surface hardness. It is found that the onset of plastic deformation is most influenced by grain size as compared with layer spacing.
Intragastric Colonization of Infant Mice with Candida albicans Induces Systemic Immunity Demonstrable upon Challenge as Adults

A murine model of long-term colonization with Candida albicans, established by intubating infant CBA/J mice, was used to study the effects of colonization on the development of Candida-specific immune responses in mature animals. Two striking consequences were stimulation of protective immune responses, as evidenced by increased survival and decreased numbers of colony-forming units in mice challenged intravenously (iv), and priming of the T cell component responsible for delayed hypersensitivity (DH). Colonized mice, tested as adults by using a cell wall-derived antigen, had little or no demonstrable DH. If inoculated once cutaneously with viable Candida, however, they responded with significantly enhanced DH reactions that could not be correlated with the cutaneous inoculation. Inoculation of the same number of dead organisms into infant mice neither primed animals for enhanced DH nor stimulated protective immunity. Antibody to cytoplasmic antigens of Candida was demonstrable in colonized animals, and its production was increased significantly in animals challenged iv with the highest dose of blastoconidia.
A comparison of satiety, glycemic index, and insulinemic index of wheat-derived soft pretzels with or without soy

The consumption of nutrient-poor snack foods in Western diets is thought to be contributing to the increasing prevalence of obesity and diabetes. Soy offers unique potential to provide high quality protein, dietary fiber, and phytochemicals to snack foods to produce a more healthful nutritional profile. In this study, 27.3% of wheat flour was replaced with soy ingredients in a soft pretzel and evaluated for impact on satiety, glycemic index (GI), and insulinemic index (II). We first tested the soy pretzel for consumer acceptability by 51 untrained sensory panelists on a 9-point hedonic scale. Second, in a crossover trial, 20 healthy adults consumed soy and traditional pretzels (1000 kJ or 239 kcal each) after an overnight fast. They reported their levels of satiety on a 10 cm visual analog scale (VAS) for 2 h postprandially. Third, 12 healthy, non-diabetic subjects consumed soy or traditional pretzels (50 ± 2 g available carbohydrates) to determine the GI and II of both products. Blood glucose and insulin responses were monitored for 2 h after consumption and compared to a glucose reference. It was found that a consumer-acceptable soy soft pretzel had a lower mean (±SD) GI than its traditional counterpart: 39.1 (±20.4) for soy and 66.4 (±15.3) for wheat, (p = 0.002). However, soy addition did not statistically affect II (p = 0.15), or satiety (p = 0.91). In conclusion, a nutrient-dense soy pretzel formulation with 27.3% of wheat flour replaced by soy ingredients had attenuated postprandial glycemia without significantly affecting insulinemia or satiety in healthy adults.
Distributed, agent-based high level information: Challenges and solutions

In today's fast paced military operational environment, vast amounts of information must be sorted out and fused not only to allow commanders to make situation assessments, but also to support the generation of hypotheses about enemy force disposition and enemy intent. An automation methodology and support tools are required to allow commanders to model and assess dynamic situations such as the behavior and intentions of enemy forces based on the flow and fusion of collected information from various sensors. Battlefield situation awareness, including location, movement, and deployment of enemy forces, is essential for commanders to make better decisions than adversaries. Agent-based information fusion and dissemination has great promise to considerably enhance current fusion technology. However, in order for agent-based information fusion to become a reality it must address a multitude of challenges. These challenges can be divided into three general categories: (a) challenges that relate to communication and information dissemination among the different agents in the system, (b) challenges pertaining to algorithms that individual agents use for effective reasoning, and (c) challenges related to integration of overall system aspects and components. In the rest of this overview, we present and discuss what we consider the most important subcategories within these three categories of challenges and briefly summarize work we have done to address them.
Circadian variation of sustained ventricular tachycardia in patients with coronary artery disease and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators.

BACKGROUND While previous studies using epidemiological data and ambulatory ECG monitoring have shown peak occurrence of sudden death and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia in the morning, none have examined circadian variation of potentially life-threatening ventricular tachycardia (VT), nor has any study observed circadian behavior of any arrhythmias in individuals followed longitudinally. We used the event memory of multiprogrammable implantable cardioverter-defibrillators to evaluate the circadian pattern of sustained VT over time. METHODS AND RESULTS Data were reviewed from 32 consecutive patients with coronary artery disease and sustained VT who had received the Ventak PRX (CPI, Inc) cardioverter-defibrillator between May 1991 and August 1993 and had experienced at least one episode of VT terminated by their device. Mean follow-up was 14 +/- 7 months. Among the 2558 episodes recorded by the device logs, VT occurrence peaked between 6 AM and noon (P = .007 by ANOVA among four 6-hour time periods). Harmonic regression revealed a morning peak at 9 AM (P 35% of VT between 6 AM and noon). Neither age, ejection fraction, event frequency, presenting arrhythmia, nor drug therapy distinguished patients who displayed the AM VT peak. CONCLUSIONS In patients with coronary artery disease, sustained VT displays circadian variation with peak frequency in the morning, similar to that for sudden death. Individual patients who display specific patterns of circadian variation over time can be identified using defibrillator logs. Investigation of circadian variation of other phenomena to elucidate mechanisms of VT should focus on these patients.
Modulation of ethanol consumption by genetic and pharmacological manipulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in mice.

Rationale Alcohol and nicotine are commonly co-abused. Genetic correlations between responses to these drugs have been reported, providing evidence that common genes underlie the response to alcohol and nicotine. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the mesolimbic dopamine system are important in mediating nicotine response, and several studies suggest that alcohol may also interact with these nAChRs.
Development of sulfonated polysulfone membranes for redox flow batteries

Abstract Sulfonated polysulfone (SPS) membranes were developed which satisfied the stability, resistivity, selectivity and low cost requirements of a flow battery. The chemical stability of SPS membranes was markedly superior to that of commercially available membranes made by grafting of hydrocarbon substrates. SPS membranes were unaffected by exposure to alkaline-ferricyanide, the electrolyte used in a zinc/redox battery. In contrast, grafted membranes suffered weight losses of up to 30 percent when exposed to this solution under similar conditions. The area resistivities of SPS membranes in 5 N NaOH decreased dramatically from 760 Ω-cm2 to less than 1 Ω-cm2 as the ion exchange capacity (IEC) increased from 0.84 to 1.91 milliequivalents per dry gram (meq/dg). Ferricyanide permeation rates, which are an inverse measure of the membranes' selectivity, were less than 1 x 10−5 mmol Fe/cm2-hr for membranes with an IEC of 1.21 meq/dg, but increased to 13 x 10−5 mmol Fe/cm2-hr for membranes with an IEC of 1.91 meq/dg. The best balance of these electrochemical properties was realized at an IEC of 1.61 meq/dg. A cell using an SPS membrane operated at greater than 80 percent energy efficiency in short-term cycling tests ( 500 cycles), energy efficiencies were comparable with those obtained with expensive perfluorosulfonate membranes.
Singlet-bipolaron formation among degenerate electronic orbitals: Softening bipolarons

Bipolaron formation among degenerate electronic orbitals is considered. Symmetry-breaking deformations that lift the electronic degeneracy are shown to be required to stabilize a singlet with respect to a triplet. These symmetry-breaking deformations mix singlet states of the undeformed system. Mixing singlets of different energies causes the electronic energy of the lowest-energy singlet to fall nonlinearly with symmetry-breaking deformations. Through this nonlinearity, a singlet pair of the lowest energy not only fosters symmetry-breaking deformations but also reduces the stiffness constants of these symmetry-breaking distortions. The concomitant singlet-induced lowering of the vibrational frequencies reduces the vibrational free energy. Thus, singlet-induced atomic displacements and vibrational softening both contribute to lowering the free energy of a singlet bipolaron below that of a triplet and of two separated polarons. At strong enough electron-lattice coupling, stabilization of a singlet bipolaron is driven mainly by symmetry-breaking shifts of atoms' equilibrium positions. This singlet bipolaron is a variant of a conventional bipolaron whose stabilization with respect to a triplet requires symmetry-breaking deformations. However, stabilization of a singlet bipolaron at moderate coupling results primarily from singlet-induced reductions of the frequencies of symmetry-breaking vibrations. This type of bipolaron is defined as a ''softening'' bipolaron. Distinctive properties of a softening bipolaronmore » enable it to be identified. Most prominently, softening bipolarons can lack the polaronic absorption bands that characterize conventional bipolarons. In addition, the Seebeck coefficients of softening bipolarons garner a distinctive contribution from singlet-induced softening of vibrational modes. Observation of these effects for boron carbides' singlet bipolarons suggests that they are examples of softening bipolarons. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society.« less
Measurement and prediction of pressure drop in a two-phase micro-pin-fin heat sink

Abstract This study concerns pressure drop in a two-phase heat sink containing an array of staggered square micro-pin-fins having a 200 × 200 μm2 pin cross-section by a 670 μm pin height. Three inlet temperatures of 30, 60 and 90 °C, and six maximum mass velocities for each inlet temperature, ranging from 183 to 420 kg/m2 s, were tested. Frictional pressure drop in the boiling region is deemed the dominant pressure drop component. The Lockhart–Martinelli correlation for laminar liquid–laminar vapor combination in conjunction with a previous single-phase friction factor correlation can adequately predict the data. Micro-pin-fins offer better flow stability than parallel micro-channels.
Long-term regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase activity in the superior cervical ganglion in organ culture: Effects of nerve stimulation and dexamethasone

The rat superior cervical ganglion was stimulated in vitro via its preganglionic trunk and then maintained in organ culture for 2-3 days. Following nerve stimulation, the specific activity of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) increased with a lag period of at least 12 h, and this increased enzyme activity was maintained throughout the culture period. The magnitude of the increase in TH activity depended on the frequency and duration of preganglionic nerve stimulation. This transsynaptic increase in enzyme activity could be completely blocked by the nicotinic antagonist, hexamethonium. The synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone, at concentrations above 1 nM, increased TH activity in unstimulated ganglia with a lag period of at least 24 h. The increase in enzyme activity produced by dexamethasone was not affected by nicotinic antagonists or by prior decentralization of the superior cervical ganglion, in contrast to the findings of previous workers. These data indicate that dexamethasone can stimulate ganglionic TH activity in the absence of cholinergic stimulation. In addition, experiments combining dexamethasone with nerve stimulation demonstrate that the steroid can potentiate the effects on TH activity of brief periods of nerve stimulation.
Passive tobacco exposure may impair symptomatic improvement in patients with chronic angina undergoing enhanced external counterpulsation.

The adverse effects of tobacco abuse on cardiovascular outcomes are well-known. However, the impact of passive smoke exposure on angina status and therapeutic response is less well-established. We examined the impact of second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure on symptomatic improvement in patients with chronic ischemic coronary disease undergoing enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP). This observational study included 1,026 non-smokers (108 exposed and 918 not-exposed to SHS) from the Second International EECP Patient Registry. We also assessed angina response in 363 current smokers. Patient demographics, symptomatic improvement and quality of life assessment were determined by self-report prior and after EECP treatment. Non-smoking SHS subjects had a lower prevalence of prior revascularization (85% vs 90%), and had an increased prevalence of stroke (13% vs 7%) and prior smoking (72% vs 61%; all p < 0.05) compared to non-smokers without SHS exposure. Despite comparable degrees of coronary disease, baseline angina class, medical regimens and side effects during EECP, fewer SHS non-smokers completed a full 35-hour treatment course (77% vs 85%, p = 0.020) compared to non-smokers without SHS. Compared to non-smokers without SHS, non-smoking SHS subjects had less angina relief after EECP (angina class decreased ≥ 1 class: 68% vs 79%; p = 0.0082), both higher than that achieved in current smokers (66%). By multivariable logistic regression, SHS exposure was an independent predictor of failure to symptomatic improvement after EECP among non-smokers (OR 1.81, 95% confidence intervals 1.16–2.83). Non-smokers with SHS exposure had an attenuated improvement in anginal symptoms compared to those without SHS following EECP.