cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quantitative biochemical and ultrastructural comparison of mitochondrial permeability transition in isolated brain and liver mitochondria: evidence for reduced sensitivity of brain mitochondria.

Opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore has increasingly been implicated in excitotoxic, ischemic, and apoptotic cell death, as well as in several neurodegenerative disease processes. However, much of the work directly characterizing properties of the transition pore has been performed in isolated liver mitochondria. Because of suggestions of tissue-specific differences in pore properties, we directly compared isolated brain mitochondria with liver mitochondria and used three quantitative biochemical and ultrastructural measurements of permeability transition. We provide evidence that brain mitochondria do not readily undergo permeability transition upon exposure to conditions that rapidly induce the opening of the transition pore in liver mitochondria. Exposure of liver mitochondria to transition-inducing agents led to a large, cyclosporin A-inhibitable decrease in spectrophotometric absorbance, a loss of mitochondrial glutathione, and morphologic evidence of matrix swelling and disruption, as expected. However, we found that similarly treated brain mitochondria showed very little absorbance change and no loss of glutathione. The absence of response in brain was not simply due to structural limitations, since large-amplitude swelling and release of glutathione occurred when membrane pores unrelated to the transition pore were formed. Additionally, electron microscopy revealed that the majority of brain mitochondria appeared morphologically unchanged following treatment to induce permeability transition. These findings show that isolated brain mitochondria are more resistant to induction of permeability transition than mitochondria from liver, which may have important implications for the study of the mechanisms involved in neuronal cell death.
Regulation of the fibroblast cell cycle by serum

WHEN “normal” fibroblasts are deprived of serum they cease growing and accumulate in the G1 or G0 stage of the cell cycle1. On restoration of serum, the cells begin to enter S phase quasi-synchronously after a well defined lag period which seems to be characteristic of the cell type. Following the studies of Todaro et al.2, Burk3, and Temin4, it is widely believed that exposure to serum for only a portion of this lag period is sufficient to commit the cells irreversibly to initiate a round of DNA replication. Thus, removal of the serum after only a few hours, and before the end of the lag period, does not affect subsequent DNA synthesis in a significant proportion of the population. It has been apparent, nevertheless, that the proportion of such “committed” cells depends on the duration of the serum pulse2–5. Indeed, the relationship between the length of exposure to serum and the proportion of committed cells is approximately linear with time and (with 3T3 cells) extends beyond the end of the lag phase itself (Fig. 1). Clearly, some cells which are stimulated to initiate DNA synthesis during continuous exposure to serum are not committed by the end of the lag period, since removal of the serum at this point reduced the proportion of labelled cells, at 24 h, from 76 to 53% (Fig. 1b).
EFFECTS ON SPERMATOGENESIS OF A FOLLICLESTIMULATING EXTRACT OBTAINED FROM MENOPAUSAL OR CASTRATE URINES1

The discovery of a gonad-stimulating or gonadotropic hormone in human urine in certain cases of menopause and castrate women has further complicated the endocrine picture of the reproductive process. This principle appears to be gonadotropic and, in laboratory animals, has stimulated germ cell division. The most striking results with castrate and menopausal urine extracts have been obtained in the male monkey and consisted of stimulation of spermatogenesis (1, 2, 3). With this in mind, we investigated the effects of these extracts on spermatogenesis in human adults. So far as we know, no survey of the influence of this extract on humans has been reported. This castrate and menopausal urine extract can be described as a polypeptid-like substance, which apparently is either identical with, or very similar to the gonadotropic hormone from the anterior lobe itself. It is prepared from the urine of certain castrates and post-menopausal women and is standardized by the production of large numbers of follicles i...
Assembly of DNA and protein during replication in HeLa cells.

REPLICATION in eukaryotic cells includes not only DNA synthetic processes1–4 but also the temporally coordinate5–7 and non-coordinate8,9,21 synthesis of chromatin proteins as well as assembly of these constituents into interphase chromosomes. While much is known about DNA histone and non-histone chromatin protein biosynthesis less is known about the time place and manner of association of proteins with DNA. This communication presents evidence that (1) DNA is replicated with pre-existent chromatin protein still attached; (2) chromatin proteins protect DNA from nuclease digestion in a characteristic manner unchanged by replicative processes and (3) addition of new chromatin protein to nascent DNA occurs after a measurable lag period.
H -mode behavior induced by cross-field currents in a tokamak

A sharp transport barrier, accompanied by a bifurcated poloidal rotation and a radial electric field, is formed at the plasma edge by driving a radial current across the outer magnetic surfaces of a tokamak. A decrease in particle transport is observed for negative radial E fields. When the radial current is turned off, the E field and the rotation damp on a time scale comparable with the ion-ion collision time.
Bladder exstrophy: Vesicoplasty or urinary diversion?

Abstract Forty-seven patients with bladder exstrophy are analyzed with postoperative follow-up available in 38 and histologic data in 29. No bladder was free of significant histologic changes. Malignant degeneration was seen in 4 patients; the exstrophy had been previously closed in 2. The functional results of cystoplasties were disappointing. No patient was continent, and repeated episodes of pyelonephritis made urinary diversion necessary. Ureterosigmoidostomy did not sufficiently protect the upper tract leading to deterioration and urinary tract infections and necessitating diversion with ileal loop in more than half of the patients. Primary ileal loop urinary diversion gave the most satisfactory results, the least clinical problems, and is the surgical procedure of choice.
An Exploration of Concepts in System Integration

As manufacturing gets ever more competitive, integration will come to be seen as a means whereby performance can be improved while flexibility is, at the same time, also being enhanced. Takes a fundamental look at the concept of integration to determine its essential properties. It is expected that this will lead to a better understanding of the concept, and also to applications in manufacturing environments which might ultimately lead to a full realization of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM).
Image-guided ablation of painful metastatic bone tumors: a new and effective approach to a difficult problem

Painful skeletal metastases are a common problem in cancer patients. Although external beam radiation therapy is the current standard of care for cancer patients who present with localized bone pain, 20-30% of patients treated with this modality do not experience pain relief, and few further options exist for these patients. For many patients with painful metastatic skeletal disease, analgesics remain the only alternative treatment option. Recently, image-guided percutaneous methods of tumor destruction have proven effective for treatment of this difficult problem. This review describes the application, limitations, and effectiveness of percutaneous ablative methods including ethanol, methyl methacrylate, laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT), cryoablation, and percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for palliation of painful skeletal metastases.
Laser active cyanopyrromethene–BF2 complexes

Treatment with a mixture of formic and hydrobromic acids converted ethyl 3,4-diethyl-5-methyl-pyrrole-2-carboxylate 7a to 3,3′,4,4′-tetraethyl-5,5′-dimethylpyrromethene hydrobromide 8a presumably via the condensation of α-unsubstituted and α-formylpyrrole intermediates 7c and 7e formed in situ. The corresponding 6-cyanohexaalkylpyrromethane 9a was obtained by the addition of hydrogen cyanide to the pyrromethene 8a and was oxidized with bromine to an unstable pyrromethene 10a, an intermediate converted to 1,2,6,7-tetraethyl-3,5-dimethyl-8-cyanopyrromethene–BF2 complex 3, (PMTEDC), λlas (plastic) 613–639 nm, in a reaction with boron trifluoride etherate. Ethyl 3,4,5-trimethylpyrrole-2-carboxylate 7b was similarly converted to 1,2,3,5,6,7-hexamethyl-8-cyanopyrromethene–BF2 complex 4, (PMHMC), λlas (plastic) 615–639 nm. Immediately after formation by a condensation between propionyl chloride and 2,4-dimethyl-3-cyanopyrrole 16, unstable 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethyl-6-ethyl-4,4′-dicyanopyrromethene hydrochloride 17 was treated with boron trifluoride etherate to give 1,3,5,7-tetramethyl -2,6-dicyano-8-ethylpyrromethene–BF2 complex 18, λlas (ethanol) 540–565 nm.
A magnetic field-responsive domain in the human HSP70 promoter.

HSP70 gene expression is induced by a wide range of environmental stimuli, including 60-Hz electromagnetic fields. In an earlier report we showed that the induction of HSP70 gene expression by magnetic fields is effected at the level of transcription and is mediated through c-myc protein binding at two nCTCTn sequences at −230 and −160. in the human HSP70 promoter. We report on the identification of a third c-myc binding site (between −158 and −162) that is an important regulator of magnetic field-induced HSP70 expression. We also show that the heat shock element (HSE), lying between −180 and −203, is required for induction of HSP70 gene expression by magnetic fields. The HSE centered at −100 alone is insufficient. J. Cell. Biochem. 77:170–176, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Inhibition of human neutrophil elastase by bacterial polyanions.

We previously demonstrated that pneumococcal extracts contain a highly specific inhibitor of human neutrophil elastase (HNE). We now show that the active inhibitor in these extracts is a high-molecular-weight, heat-stable substance that appears to be RNA, since inhibitory activity of pneumococcal extracts is decreased by incubation with ribonuclease but not by incubation with deoxyribonuclease or proteinase K. Moreover, metabolically labeled ([3H]uridine) pneumococcal RNA, isolated by phenol extraction followed by ethanol precipitation, strongly inhibits HNE. Pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide, although polyanionic, is only weakly inhibitory toward HNE and is not a major source of elastase-inhibitory activity in pneumococcal extracts. On the other hand, the capsule of Haemophilus influenzae type b contains polyribosylribitol phosphate. This highly charged polyanion possesses HNE-inhibitory activity, but only under special circumstances to be discussed below. Pneumococci (type I, type II smooth, type II ...
`High crimes and misdemeanors': George W. Bush and the sins of Abu Ghraib:

This article examines the Abu Ghraib prison scandal from the perspective of cultural criminology. Several points are made about the iconic images of abuse. First, it is argued that these images, along with supporting documents, constitute the photographic record of a crime committed by the capitalist state. This was the high crime of torture. Next the images are used to examine the efficacy of various explanations for the Abu Ghraib scandal. These include the US Government's theory that the abuse was perpetrated by a small group of 'bad apples' within its military police units; Zimbardo's 'automatic brutality' theory of prisoner abuse which suggests that we are all latent torturers; and McCoy's theory that the most sophisticated interrogation practices at Abu Ghraib were designed and executed by the US Central Intelligence Agency, with military police in a supporting role. The weight of evidence supports McCoy's theory, thereby lending credibility to the argument that the torturing of detainees at Abu Ghraib followed directly from decisions made by top government officials, from President George W. Bush on down, to 'take off the gloves' in prisoner interrogations.
A Cardiac Nonproliferation Treaty

A common basis of human mortality is the heart, arising from morphogenetic defects of the organ at birth as well as from the chronic ravages of hypertension and coronary artery disease later in life ( 1 ). A key pathological mechanism is muscle cell death, mitigated by only a scant capacity for muscle cell renewal. Rescuing cardiac muscle cell number might underlie therapeutic strategies, such as the use of antagonists of muscle cell death, stem cell grafting (now pursued in clinical trials), and activating self-repair by dormant cardiac stem cells in the heart ( 2 ). However, the genetic networks that control cardiac muscle cell number are not completely understood. On page 458 of this issue, Heallen et al. ( 3 ) provide insights into a signaling pathway that represses the cardiac cell division cycle in mice, and show that impairing this pathway can unleash cardiac cell proliferation.
Cross-Validation of the Quarterly Profile Examination:

The Quarterly Profile Examination (QPE) is produced by a computer-assisted test construction system designed for the longitudinal measurement of the acquisition and retention of knowledge of the medical sciences. QPE scores from two graduating classes were used to determine the shrinkage in predictive validity when using the QPE to predict scores on a national licensure examination, National Board of Medical Examiners Part I (NBME). Three prediction models were cross-validated to assess the validity of the QPE. The resulting significant correlations between the QPE scores and the NBME scores suggest that the QPE is a valid measure of knowledge obtained during the course of medical school, as well as a useful predictor of performance on the national licensure examination. The cross-validation analysis indicated the prediction formulas to be stable across time.
Improving service quality and productivity: exploring the digital connections scaling model

The basic model argues that Digital Connections Scaling (DCS) of customers, providers and/or resources is a fundamental way to reduce service cycle time and transaction cost, and thereby to improve service quality and productivity. Digitisation makes entities connectable, and scaling decreases the marginal cost for the customer and the provider to cocreate new values. Three types of economies of DCS are postulated: the accumulation effect, the networking effect and the ecosystem effect on facilitating value propositions and cocreation. The paper also presents enterprise engineering principles, new micro-economic production functions, and an extended cyber-infrastructure model to substantriate DCS.
The myth of a secular state: A study of religious politics with historical illustrations

Abstract Religion has continued to assert itself as a significant moral force in Nigeria's post‐independence politics; however, some recent studies of the country's political life tend to dismiss religion as a kind of mystical irrationality or an act of deluded trust. After conducting an audit of what I take to be the assets and the liabilities of the intellectual traditions underpinning this secularist preference, I propose a theory of political morality in which themes of legitimacy, identity and social justice are explained against the background of religious expectations. I argue that the rationale for political behaviour in Nigeria is not fully accounted for by the categories of class and ethnicity, but must be sought in a more inclusive and transcendent moral basis. I conclude that the recent high‐profile involvements of religious persons in politics should not be seen as flashes of political insanity; rather, they constitute genuine attempts to reformulate the modern language of public morality.
The Nature of the Hospitality Industry: Present and Future Managers' Perspectives

ABSTRACT This study examines the distinct characteristics of the hospitality industry through use of personal interviews with general managers of leading hotels, and focus groups among hospitality management students. The managers commonly characterized the industry from an outward perspective focusing on industry features such as the relatively extensive and deep host-guest relationship, as well as the on-going tension between opposing trends and aspects, such as progress vs. stagnation, ordinary vs. extraordinary, and hospitability vs. profitability. Alternatively, the students adopted a more inward perspective of the industry, emphasizing hospitality work attributes; such as the intensive teamwork and solidarity among hospitality employees, along with mixed and contrasting images of variation vs. repetitiveness, hospitableness vs. emotional labor, and hard labor vs. alternative lifestyle.
Solution structure of a beta-neurotoxin from the New World scorpion Centruroides sculpturatus Ewing.

We report the detailed solution structure of the 7.2 kDa protein CsE-I, a beta-neurotoxin from the New World scorpion Centruroides sculpturatus Ewing. This toxin binds to sodium channels, but unlike the alpha-neurotoxins, shifts the voltage of activation toward more negative potentials causing the membrane to fire spontaneously. Sequence-specific proton NMR assignments were made using 600 MHz 2D-NMR data. Distance geometry and dynamical simulated annealing refinements were performed using experimental distance and torsion angle constraints from NOESY and pH-COSY data. A family of 40 structures without constraint violations was generated, and an energy-minimized average structure was computed. The backbone conformation of the CsE-I toxin shows similar secondary structural features as the prototypical alpha-neurotoxin, CsE-v3, and is characterized by a short 2(1/2)-turn alpha-helix and a 3-strand antiparallel beta-sheet, both held together by disulfide bridges. The RMSD for the backbone atoms between CsE-I and CsE-v3 is 1.48 A. Despite this similarity in the overall backbone folding, the these two proteins show some important differences in the primary structure (sequence) and electrostatic potential surfaces. Our studies provide a basis for unravelling the role of these differences in relation to the known differences in the receptor sites on the voltage sensitive sodium channel for the alpha- and beta-neurotoxins.
Prediction of First-Year Graduate Success in Psychology: Peer Ratings

AbstractThe present study involved a comparison among a variety of measures in predicting first-year grade-point average (GPA) in graduate school in Psychology at the University of Illinois. The predictors included standard ability measures such as the Graduate Record Examination, biographical characteristics, peer ratings on intellective and personological variables, and scales from the Opinion, Attitude, and Interest Survey. The samples involved forty-six psychology first-year students at the University of Illinois in 1965 and fifty-eight students in 1966. Results indicated that among ail predictors only the peer ratings demonstrated predictive validity of first-year grades.
Simulation and economic analysis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural conversion to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid

Abstract Two processes for converting 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) were designed using literature data together with simplified process simulation models. The main reaction step is HMF catalytic oxidation using aqueous acetic acid as solvent, Pt/ZrO 2 as catalyst and air as oxidant. The first process investigated involves a mixed-suspension, mixed-product-removal crystallizer and a filter for separating solid FDCA from the solvent. The calculated minimum sale price of FDCA is 3157 $/t, whereas, if pure oxygen is used as oxidant the FDCA price reduces to 2458 $/t. Due to the high melting point of FDCA, the second alternative considered introduces trioctylamine as solvent to facilitate separation of FDCA from the solvent using distillation. The estimated FDCA price using this process is 3885 $/t. Sensitivity analysis shows that selectivity and conversion have small impact on FDCA price, whereas plant capacity, catalyst and HMF costs have large effects on the price of FDCA.
Effects of non-primary cosmic radiation on the number-energy relation and geomagnetic correlations near the top of the atmosphere

Experimental results for flights at the geomagnetic latitudes 10 deg and 55 deg North in 1953 are presented. The data are presented in total flux as a function of atmospheric depth, pulse height distributions during ascent, and fast albedo and slow proton intensities at 0 and 60 deg zenith angles. The character of the splash albedo is illustrated by plots of its dependence on geomagnetic latitude, zenith and azimuthal angle, and on atmospheric depth. (M.H.R.)
Anaerobic biodegradability of cellulose and hemicellulose in excavated refuse samples using a biochemical methane potential assay.

Improved techniques are needed to predict potential methane generation from refuse buried in landfills. The Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) test was used to measure the methane potential of ten refuse samples excavated from a Berkeley, CA, landfill. The test was conducted in 125-ml serum bottles containing phosphate-buffered medium and inoculated with anaerobically digested sewage sludge. Comparison of the measured BMP to the theoretical BMP calculated from measured cellulose and hemicellulose concentrations indicated that cellulose plus hemicellulose is not well correlated with the measured BMP. The average of the measured to theoretical BMP was 19.1% (range 0-53%, s.d. = 16.9%). Measured sulfate concentrations showed that sulfate was an insignificant electron sink in the samples tested. Once methane production from the refuse was complete, 0.072 g of Whatman no. 1 filter paper was added to two of the four serum bottles incubated for each sample. An average of 84.9% (s.d. = 2.5%) of the added filter paper was recovered as methane, suggesting that some cellulose and hemicellulose present in refuse is recalcitrant or otherwise not bioavailable.
Reinforcement Learning Algorithms for Adaptive Cyber Defense against Heartbleed

In this paper, we investigate a model where a defender and an attacker simultaneously and repeatedly adjust the defenses and attacks. Under this model, we propose two iterative reinforcement learning algorithms which allow the defender to identify optimal defenses when the information about the attacker is limited. With probability one, the adaptive reinforcement learning algorithm converges to the best response with respect to the attacks when the attacker diminishingly explores the system. With a probability arbitrarily close to one, the robust reinforcement learning algorithm converges to the min-max strategy despite that the attacker persistently explores the system. The algorithm convergence is formally proven and the algorithm performance is verified via numerical simulations.
Existence of real eigenvalues of real tensors

Abstract We use the Brouwer degree to establish the existence of real eigenpairs of higher order real tensors in various settings. Also, we provide some finer criteria for the existence of real eigenpairs of two-dimensional real tensors and give a complete classification of the Brouwer degree zero and ±2 maps induced by general third order two-dimensional real tensors.
An Essential Role for Dermal Primary Cilia in Hair Follicle Morphogenesis

The primary cilium is a microtubule-based organelle implicated as an essential component of a number of signaling pathways. It is present on cells throughout the mammalian body; however, its functions in most tissues remain largely unknown. Herein we demonstrate that primary cilia are present on cells in murine skin and hair follicles throughout morphogenesis and during hair follicle cycling in postnatal life. Using the Cre-lox system, we disrupted cilia assembly in the ventral dermis and evaluated the effects on hair follicle development. Mice with disrupted dermal cilia have severe hypotrichosis (lack of hair) in affected areas. Histological analyses reveal that most follicles in the mutants arrest at stage 2 of hair development and have small or absent dermal condensates. This phenotype is reminiscent of that seen in the skin of mice lacking Shh or Gli2. In situ hybridization and quantitative RT-PCR analysis indicates that the hedgehog pathway is downregulated in the dermis of the cilia mutant hair follicles. Thus, these data establish cilia as a critical signaling component required for normal hair morphogenesis and suggest that this organelle is needed on cells in the dermis for reception of signals such as sonic hedgehog.
POLICING A DIVIDED SOCIETY: OBSTACLES TO NORMALIZATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND*

The scholarly literature on the police is deficient in studies of policing in highly polarized societies. Northern Ireland is an ideal case for examining the police role in just such a context. The Royal Ulster Constabulary has played a pivotal role in the Northern Ireland conflict over the past 15 years. This study examines both the major reforms in the force during this period, and the barriers to further progress toward "normal" or "civilian" policing in a deeply divided society I analyze continuing problems of police violence, legitimacy, accountability, and militarization and show how the current system of aggressive, paramilitary policing is perpetuated by a combination of four key factors. Most scholarly research on the police focuses on societies where basic public acceptance of the forces of order is not a major problem. Very few studies have explored policing in deeply divided societies where it is prone to sectarian bias, is often highly militarized, and where at least one major section of the society withholds legitimacy from the police (Ahmad, 1977; Bensinger, 1983; Enloe, 1976, 1980; Frankel, 1980). Even less is known about the conditions under which a highly partisan and repressive police force in such societies can be fundamentally transformed and can, in turn, help resolve instead of aggravate social and political conflicts.
Making the Unseen Seen: Pedagogy and Aesthetics in African American Prophetic Preaching

This essay investigates the idea of African American prophetic preaching as a derivative of the message and agenda of the Hebrew prophet. The essay demonstrates how critical consideration of the relationships between basic criteria of biblical prophetic speech, pedagogy (communal praxis), and cultural aesthetics (artistic beauty and power of Black oral expression), reveals a composite picture of the nature and function of African American prophetic preaching, and makes evident the need for a roadmap to rehabilitate the prophetic voice in America's Black pulpits. The fundamental premise is that African American preaching can become more communally constructive and consequential for our times when the African American preacher reclaims in spoken Word the voice of the prophet that speaks justice, divine intentionality and hope.
ANTICIPATED AND UNANTICIPATED INCOME WITHIN THE CONSUMPTION FUNCTION: A RATIONAL EXPECTATIONS APPROACH

The rational expectations‐permanent income hypothesis (REPIH) is nothing new. The initial REPIH of Hall (1978) suggested that no other variable observed in earlier periods, given the inclusion of consumption lagged one period, should have any explanatory power for current consumption (Hall, p.972). The Hall version does not eliminate inclusion of current income in the explanation of consumption. Later work by Flavin (1981) finds that current income contains information about future income by providing signals to changes in permanent income. The means to reveal the innovation of current income signaling changes in permanent income has been to decompose current income into its anticipated and unanticipated components. Flavin suggests that unanticipated changes in current income may affect consumption by signaling changes in current income while anticipated changes in current income are included in the formation of permanent income thus having no affect on consumption.
Thermodynamics of order-disorder transformations in vanadium carbide

Some of the nonstoichiometric carbides of the transition metals (e.g. VC x ) undergo transformations to ordered phases at specific values of x. In a thermodynamic study of such order-disorder transformations the latent heats of the reactions VC0.833=V6C5 and VC0.875=V8C7 were measured using differential thermal analysis (DTA) and gave values of 5.7±2.8 cal g−1 and 6.0±2.4 cal g−1 (1 cal=4.1855 J), respectively. For well-annealed specimens intermediate in carbon-to-metal ratio between these two compositions, DTA indicated the coexistence of domains of both ordered phases. The implication is that the nonstoichiometric, disordered, NaCl-structure phase VC x does not represent the lowest energy state of vanadium carbide at room temperature for any value of x. This result may apply to the other isomorphic carbides, i.e. TiC x , ZrC x , HfC x , NbC x and TaC x . The measured temperatures corresponding to the onset of the transformations were 1184±12‡ C for V6C5 and 1112±8‡ C for V8C7, but the centre of the distribution was approximately 50‡ C higher in each case. A rationalization of the existence of first-order transitions and an estimate of the latent heats expected from the measured transition temperatures were attempted using the Bragg-Williams theory of order-disorder transformations. The results are consistent with experiment, though the adequacy of this approximation for such a complex case is questionable.
Platelet Transfusion in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Benefits, Risks, Alternatives

Platelet transfusions were introduced into clinical medicine about 60 years ago when they were shown to reduce the mortality rate of patients with leukemia who were bleeding secondary to hyporegenerative thrombocytopenia. In modern neonatology units, platelet transfusions are integral and indeed lifesaving for some neonates. However, the great majority of platelet transfusions currently administered in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are not given in the original paradigm to treat thrombocytopenic hemorrhage, but instead are administered prophylactically with the hope that they will reduce the risk of spontaneous bleeding. Weighing the risks and benefits of platelet transfusion, although imprecise, should be attempted each time a platelet transfusion is ordered. Adopting guidelines specific for platelet transfusion will improve consistency of care and will also generally reduce transfusion usage, thereby reducing costs and conserving valuable blood bank resources. Initiating specific programs to improve compliance with transfusion guidelines can further improve NICU transfusion practice.
Accuracy of localization system inside human body using a fast FDTD simulation technique

In this paper we analyze the accuracy of narrowband and wideband localization techniques inside the homogeneous human tissues using a fast finite difference time domain (FDTD) technique. In the narrowband localization, the phase of the received carrier signal is used for ranging measurements, whereas for the wideband transmission, the time of arrival (TOA) of the received signal is used. For fast computations, we introduce a new perspective to FDTD simulations of radio propagation by considering each simulation set for a given location of antennas as a Linear Time Invariant (LTI) discrete-time system. This way a set of simulations for a variety of transmitted waveforms can be reduced to only one simulation to determine the impulse response of the simulated channel between the two antennas and the convolution of the set of waveforms with this impulse response. A typical simulation using FDTD takes several minutes to a few hours and each convolution takes only a few seconds, resulting in a huge reduction in computational time.
Gold Price as Another Determinant of Demand for International Reserves

Various authors have tried to verify the importance of different variables in the reserve demand equation. This article introduces a new independent variable, the gold price, into the reserve demand function. By pooling cross‐section and time‐series (quarterly) data for 19 industrial countries over the 1973–1981 period, a reserve demand equation is estimated. It is concluded that the price of gold exerts a significantly negative effect on the demand for international liquidity.
Talking and Thinking With Our Hands

When people talk, they gesture. Typically, gesture is produced along with speech and forms a fully integrated system with that speech. However, under unusual circumstances, gesture can be produced on its own, without speech. In these instances, gesture must take over the full burden of communication usually shared by the two modalities. What happens to gesture in this very different context? One possibility is that there are no differences in the forms gesture takes with speech and without it—that gesture is gesture no matter what its function. But that is not what we find. When gesture is produced on its own and assumes the full burden of communication, it takes on a language-like form. In contrast, when gesture is produced in conjunction with speech and shares the burden of communication with that speech, it takes on an unsegmented, imagistic form, often conveying information not found in speech. As such, gesture sheds light on how people think and can even play a role in changing those thoughts. Gestur...
BOOKS AS THEY REFLECT THE READER: AN EXPLORATION

ABSTRACT Readers are created, in part, by the materials and models they have had for reading. The teacher who is a reader, who takes the time to read aloud to students, and has a “feel” for the kinds of books that appeal to certain youngsters, is the person who can make a lasting impression on many students’ lives. The books recommended in this article are some that are worthy of being shared with youngsters everywhere.
Nitrogen capture by grapevine roots and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi from legume cover-crop residues under low rates of mineral fertilization

The influence of mineral fertilization on root uptake and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi-mediated 15N capture from labeled legume (Medicago polymorpha) residue was examined in winegrapes (Vitis vinifera) in the greenhouse, to evaluate compatibility of fertilization with incorporation of cover-crop residue in winegrape production. Plants grown in marginal vineyard soil were either fertilized with 0.25× Hoagland’s solution or not. This low fertilization rate represents the deficit management approach typical of winegrape production. Access to residue in a separate compartment was controlled to allow mycorrhizal roots (roots + hyphae), hyphae (hyphae-intact), or neither (hyphae-rotated) to proliferate in the residue by means of mesh core treatments. Leaves were weekly analyzed for 15N. On day 42, plants were analyzed for 15N and biomass; roots were examined for intraradical colonization; and soils were analyzed for 15N, inorganic N, Olsen-P, X-K, and extraradical colonization. As expected, extraradical colonization of soil outside the cores was unaffected by mesh core treatment, while that inside the cores varied significantly. 15N atom% excess was highest in leaves of roots + hyphae. In comparison, leaf 15N atom% excess in hyphae-intact was consistently intermediate between roots + hyphae and hyphae-rotated, the latter of which remained unchanged over time. Fertilization stimulated host and fungal growth, based on higher biomass and intraradical colonization of fertilized plants. Fertilization did not affect hyphal or root proliferation in residue but did lower %N derived from residue in leaves and stems by 50%. Our results suggest that even low fertilization rates decrease grapevine N uptake from legume crop residue by both extraradical hyphae and roots.
Synthesis and soluble pools of ribosomal proteins in Rhodopseudomonas palustris

Abstract The specific antibodies prepared against two purified ribosomal proteins (19 and 24) and total 66-S ribosomal proteins have been utilized to measure free ribosomal proteins in Rhodopseudomonas palustris. The free ribosomal protein pool (66 S) amounts to 1–2% of the total soluble proteins of R. palustris. In addition, the size of free ribosomal protein pool (66 S) is calculated to be approx. 7% of the total ribosomal protein on the mature 66-S ribosomes from the pulse-labelling data. A study of the pool size indicates that ribosomal proteins are synthesized at a constant rate during exponential growth. However, during abnormal conditions such as antibiotic treatment, individual ribosomal proteins behave in a manner distinct from the average behavior of total 66-S ribosomal proteins. The co-ordination in the biosynthesis of free ribosomal proteins is no longer apparent during chloramphenicol treatment. Measurements on the free ribosomal protein pools following physiological stress treatment indicate that duing the recovery period, rate of ribosome assembly is greater than the rate of ribosomal protein synthesis.
DEM Simulation of Particle Damage in Granular Media — Structure Interfaces

Using the discrete element method (DEM) with clustering, a novel means of numerically modeling damage of particles is presented. Damage, such as grain crushing, is treated by allowing clusters to break apart according to a failure criterion based upon sliding work. If the accumulated work done on an individual DEM particle of a cluster exceeds a threshold, that particle is allowed to break from the cluster. A value for the critical energy density is determined by comparing the degree of particle breakage from numerical simulations to data from laboratory tests. Numerical simulations were also conducted to determine the impact of particle damage on interface behavior. It was found that a very distinct shear zone was evident when particle damage was considered and that this occurred without significant reduction of the maximum shear strength of the medium. Also, the degree of damage was shown to be related to the angularity of the clusters.
Peripheral and central sensitization in remote spinal cord regions contribute to central neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury

Central neuropathic pain (CNP) developing after spinal cord injury (SCI) is described by the region affected: above-level, at-level and below-level pain occurs in dermatomes rostral, at/near, or below the SCI level, respectively. People with SCI and rodent models of SCI develop above-level pain characterized by mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia. Mechanisms underlying this pain are unknown and the goals of this study were to elucidate components contributing to the generation of above-level CNP. Following a thoracic (T10) contusion, forelimb nociceptors had enhanced spontaneous activity and were sensitized to mechanical and thermal stimulation of the forepaws 35 days post-injury. Cervical dorsal horn neurons showed enhanced responses to non-noxious and noxious mechanical stimulation as well as thermal stimulation of receptive fields. Immunostaining dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cells and cord segments with activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3, a marker for neuronal injury) ruled out neuronal damage as a cause for above-level sensitization since few C8 DRG cells expressed AFT3 and cervical cord segments had few to no ATF3-labeled cells. Finally, activated microglia and astrocytes were present in thoracic and cervical cord at 35 days post-SCI, indicating a rostral spread of glial activation from the injury site. Based on these data, we conclude that peripheral and central sensitization as well as reactive glia in the uninjured cervical cord contribute to CNP. We hypothesize that reactive glia in the cervical cord release pro-inflammatory substances which drive chronic CNP. Thus a complex cascade of events spanning many cord segments underlies above-level CNP.
Quantitative and qualitative aspects of radiolocalization in colon cancer patients of intravenously administered MAb B72.3

Monoclonal antibody (MAb) B72.3 has been previously shown, by in vitro assays, to have a high degree of specificity for carcinomas of the colon, ovary and breast versus normal adult tissues. B72.3 IgG was labelled with 131I and injected i.v. into 20 patients with known or suspected colorectal cancer. All patients subsequently underwent surgical exploration, with tumor and selected normal tissues removed for staging purposes. The selective localization of 131I-MAb B72.3 IgG was demonstrated in biodistribution studies in which the % ID/g of each tumor was compared with that of the normal tissues, thus providing a relative RI for each lesion. Of the tumor lesions, 70% (99/142) had an RI of at least 3 (i.e., 3 times greater uptake per gram than normal tissues), and 31% of the tumor lesions had RIs of over 10. Only 12 of 210 (6%) histologically normal tissues had RIs of > 3; either these tissues were adjacent to or draining tumor masses or, as in the case of 2 patients, the high RI values were apparently due to deposition of immune complexes in the splenic tissues. Several parameters were studied to determine factors that might influence MAb localization. Whereas tumors of all histologic types localized the MAb, 31% of the well-differentiated mucinous carcinomas displayed tumor-to-normal ratios greater than 10, while less than 5% of the lesions of other tumor types demonstrated similar localization. The expression of the antigen (TAG-72) detected by MAb B72.3 in these tumors, as studied by immunohistochemical techniques using tissue sections, did not always correlate with the outcome of the MAb distribution. No differences in MAb uptake were observed among the carcinoma lesions from numerous anatomic locations, demonstrating the ability of i.v. administered B72.3 to reach all the tumor sites. Furthermore, autoradiographic studies of tumors showed good penetration of the MAb into the medial areas of the tumors, regardless of their size.
The search for, and discovery of, the Higgs boson at CMS

The Higgs field was first proposed almost 50 years ago. Twenty years ago the tools needed to discover the Higgs boson, the large hadron collider and the CMS and ATLAS experiments, were initiated. Data taking was begun in 2010 and culminated in the announcement of the discovery of a "Higgs-like" boson on 4 July 2012. This discovery completes the Standard Model (SM) of high energy physics, if it is indeed the hypothesized SM Higgs particle. Future data taking will explore the properties of the new 125 GeV particle to see if it has all the attributes of an SM Higgs and to explore the mechanism that maintains its "low" mass.
Dexamethasone and activators of the protein kinase A and C signal transduction pathways regulate neuronal calcitonin gene-related peptide expression and release.

Primary cultures of adult rat dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons were used to determine if activation of either the protein kinase A or C signal transduction pathways or treatment with the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone modulate neuronal calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) synthesis and release. DRG are the sites of neuronal cell bodies known to produce abundant CGRP levels, and to send axons peripherally to blood vessels and centrally to the spinal cord. Using immunocytochemical techniques, we confirmed that synthesis of immunoreactive CGRP (iCGRP) is restricted to a subpopulation of DRG neurons. Subsequently, we determined that treatment (24 h) of the neurons with either dibutyryl cAMP (1 mM) or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (2μM) increased CGRP mRNA content 2.2 ± 0.4 (n = 6, p < 0.03) and 3.0 ± 0.6-fold (n = 6, P < 0.02) respectively, while secreted iCGRP levels were increased 1.8 ± 0.2 (n = 14, P < 0.005) and 4.5 ± 1.0 (n = 14, P < 0.001)-fold over control levels. Treatment of the neurons with dexamethasone alone had no effect on CGRP expression; however, this agent was able to significantly attenuate the stimulatory effects of NGF on both CGRP mRNA accumulation and release of iCGRP. Time course studies demonstrated that in the phorbol ester treated neurons CGRP mRNA levels continued to increase at 48 h, while maximal induction with dibutyryl cAMP occurred at approximately 12 h. These results indicate that local and/or circulating factors which act through the protein kinase A and C signal transduction pathways upregulate both CGRP expression and release, while glucocorticoids attenuate the stimulatory effects of NGF.
Reverse auctions: How much total supply chain cost savings are there? — A business simulation model

This paper provides a decision modelling framework for managers to determine if participation in online reverse auctions will result in cost savings for their procurement function. The research written on this topic does not offer analytical business decision model for managers to follow when evaluating whether to implement online reverse auctions specifically from buyers' perspectives. Buyers' determination to use online reverse auctions typically depends on such factors as: number of suppliers, product specifications, direct costs (caused by delays and timing, data integrity, award decision) and indirect costs (due to customer dissatisfaction, logistics, nonrecurring expenses) which will vary for each product and for each buyer. The proposed simulation model described in this paper considers these factors as inputs to conduct numerical experiments in order to present a more explicit business case of cost savings generated from reverse auctions for decision makers. In practice, additional company-specific information can be applied to the decision-making simulation model.
Femtosecond optical shocks and wave breaking in fiber propagation

Detailed analysis is presented of the recent observation [ Phys. Rev. Lett.62, 531 ( 1989)] and new measurements of the formation of an optical intensity shock and the subsequent wave breaking in the nonlinear propagation of visible 1-psec pulses in an optical fiber. The observed shock has a duration of 150 fsec, and the wave breaking is manifested by 400-fsec oscillations in the wake of the shock. The observations are compared with numerical integrations of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLSE). The calculations generally agree with the measurements; however, two measured features are predicted neither by the NLSE nor by the NLSE when it is modified to include higher-order effects. The measured features are explained by the presence of small satellites and asymmetry in the input pulse.
Comprehensive course management and delivery using POISE-CIS

At SUNY-Plattsburgh, we are using the POISE-CIS course management and delivery software to teach one section of introductory psychology each semester. Although this course uses a traditional textbook and covers the same material as most introductory psychology courses, it uses a self-paced mastery-based approach to learning and is managed and delivered over the Plattsburgh computer network. Students receive assignments, take on-line diagnostic assessments, receive feedback, and communicate with the instructor over the campus network. In a departmental laboratory facility, students also work with a computerized tutorial, complete computerized learning activities, take supervised on-line exams, and consult with teaching assistants. The present paper describes the overall design of the course as well as the specific characteristics of the course as it was offered in the spring of 1995, at which time data were collected on student attitudes toward computers.