cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Data Analytics for the Improvement of Healthcare Quality

The transformation of healthcare has and will continue to require a meaningful integration of data into bedside care, population health models, and sophisticated strategies to translate analytics into better outcomes. However, the ability to readily access, properly analyze, and effectively use data to drive improvement is still a challenge for many healthcare organizations. Harnessing the power of data for quality improvement requires a cultural change within many institutions and practices. Healthcare systems benefit when health informatics is applied and data is converted to useable information with timely delivery; this transformation requires both technology and expertise. Organizations must support cross-functional teams comprised of clinical, operational, and financial expertise with a data governance structure to support their functions. With the shift in healthcare payment models from fee-for-service to value-based payment (lower costs for better outcomes), there is an increasing need to measure both outcomes and costs with more accuracy and precision. This chapter explores key strategic elements needed to advance analytics in healthcare and how analytics can be applied to clinical decision support, population health strategies, and measuring the value of care.
More or Less Data? Information Acquisition in Asymmetric Elections

We demonstrate that a candidate competing in an asymmetric Tullock election contest may prefer that their rival candidate has access to information they themselves do not have. In the model, the extent of asymmetry between the candidates is ex-ante uncertain, but candidates can acquire information about it. We study the interaction between the incentives to acquire the information and candidates' spending and winning likelihoods. For a range of moderately close elections, an asymmetric equilibrium can arise where both candidates prefer that only the underdog candidate acquires the information. The optimal information acquisition strategy may consequently exhibit discontinuities in candidates' winning probabilities as a function of the competitiveness of the election.
How Seniors Change Their Asset Holdings During Retirement

We use the 1998-2006 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to investigate how households change their asset holdings at older ages. We find a notable increase in the net worth of older households between 1998 and 2006, with most of the growth due to housing. Our results indicate that, through 2006, older households did not spend all of their capital gains. This asset accumulation provides older households with a financial cushion for the turbulence experienced after 2007. The wealth distribution is highly skewed, and the age patterns of asset accumulation and decumulation vary considerably by income group. High-income seniors increase assets at older ages. Middle-income seniors reduce their assets in retirement, but at a rate that for most seniors will not deplete assets within their expected life. Many low-income seniors accumulate fewer assets and spend their financial assets at a rate that will mostly deplete them at older ages, leaving low-income seniors with only Social Security and DB pension income at older ages.
Retention During Task Interspersal Versus Varied Instruction

Retention (i.e., response maintenance) is rarely the primary variable of interest when examining skill acquisition procedures. Trial presentation type (i.e., acquisition targets only vs. interspersal of previously acquired targets) within discrete-trial training is one procedural component that researchers have hypothesized may affect performance on follow-up retention probes. The present study compared single-task presentation (varied instruction) and task interspersal procedures with regard to retention of a mastered task. We taught four children two skills so that retention of the mastered skill (Skill 1) could be assessed during ongoing instruction of a new skill (Skill 2) using varied instruction versus task interspersal. Findings demonstrated equivalency of varied instruction and task interspersal. Results support that frequent rehearsal of a skill acquisition program without consequences is equivalent to ongoing instruction with consequences. Findings suggest instructors should program follow-up probes of previously mastered content into or between sessions, especially when utilizing single-task trial arrangements that do not incorporate such.
Understanding Gas Absorption in Multivalent Ionic Liquids via Solute-Solvent Interaction Analyses

Abstract Solute-solvent interactions are often evaluated to understand and explain gas solubilities. This information is regularly used to interpret gas solubility and separation within ionic liquids (ILs). Here, we use several different quantum chemical and previous molecular dynamics simulation results to show that strong solute-solvent interactions neither lead to high solubility nor to high selectivity, with respect to other solutes. Instead, the solute-solvent interaction strength with different isolated IL ions is affected by the electrostatic extremes. Also, the solute-solvent interaction with different IL molecules is strongly correlated to the molecular volumes or polarizabilities (within a series of same-anion based ILs).
Mental health on the campus revisited.

Abstract The author briefly reviews Mental Health on the Campus: A Field Study, published in 1973, noting areas of consensus and points of tension or disagreement that were reported in that study. He then assesses the extent to which the current state of mental health on the campus is an echo of that report. These comparisons form the basis for anticipating the probable direction of future developments in campus mental health. The areas and issues considered include the increased diversity of the student body, the stable incidence of psychotic disorders, the increased prevalence of gender-related diagnoses such as sexual abuse and eating disorders, the continuing financial pressures bearing on campus mental health programs, and the forms of care and treatment that fiscal and other circumstances are imposing. The author concludes that although the resources available and the particular challenges that are faced may have changed, the traditional goals of a campus mental health program, as articulated 75 yea...
Viral DNA in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: CMV-bearing cells as a target for immune-mediated enterocytolysis

Although serological studies have revealed a high incidence and mean titer of antibody to cytomegalovirus (CMV) in some patients with inflammatory bowel disease, electron microscopy has not confirmed the presence of mature virus in diseased tissue. Sensitive biochemical techniques for detection of viral nucleic acid were applied therefore to test the proposed disease-virus association. Membrane cRNA-DNA hybridization showed that CMV DNA was not detectable in 3 cases of Crohn's disease, nor was it present in 3 or 4 cases of ulcerative colitis examined. Five tissue specimens taken 5 cm away from a colonic tumor were also negative. An in situ hybridization study of diseased tissue, including specimens from 6 inflammatory bowel disease patients in addition to those above, showed a few grains distributed over cells superficial to the muscularis mucosa, but was not regarded as significantly different from controls. The association of CMV with Crohn's disease (0 positives in 4 patients by either test) is not supported by this study; the association with ulcerative colitis (1 positive in 9 patients by either test) requires further study before a definitive conclusion can be made.
Factors Affecting One-Way Hashing of CD-R Media

While conducting a validation study of proficiency test media we found that applying the same hash algorithm against a single CD using different forensic applications resulted in different hash values. We formulated a series of experiments to determine the cause of the anomalous hash values. Our results suggest that certain write options cause forensic applications to report different hash values. We examine the possible consequences of these anomalies in legal proceedings and provide best practices for the use of hashing procedures.
Perpendicular Order in Frustrated Magnetic Layers

We report preliminary results of Monte Carlo simulations of coupled two dimensional, square lattice, classical, antiferromagnetic Heisenberg systems. We find that when the two layers are offset so that frustrating interactions are present, the magnetic order in the planes can be made orthogonal, even in the absence of any explicit symmetry breaking terms on the Hamiltonian. Connections are made to the magnetic behavior of recently sythesized pnictide-oxide materials.
Diacetylene and Triacetylene Polymers

The polyacetylenes, polydiacetylenes, and polytriacetylenes are the only known families of linearly conjugated polymers. The polydiacetylenes and polytriacetylenes, the primary topic of this discussion, are distinguished from the polyacetylenes because they require preorganization of the monomer for a successful polymerization. These topochemically controlled polymerizations have the interesting property that they can lead to single crystals of conjugated polymers, a unique structural feature among all polymers. The conjugated backbones impart interesting optical and electrical properties to these polymers, making them possible candidates for the development of advanced materials. Keywords: polydiacetylenes; polytriacetylenes; conjugated polymer; electrical properties; optical properties; topochemically controlled polymerization
Biologic plausibility, cellular effects, and molecular mechanisms of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in atherosclerosis

Residual cardiovascular (CV) risk remains in dyslipidemic patients despite intensive statin therapy, underscoring the need for additional intervention. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, is incorporated into membrane phospholipids and atherosclerotic plaques and exerts beneficial effects on the pathophysiologic cascade from onset of plaque formation through rupture. Specific salutary actions have been reported relating to endothelial function, oxidative stress, foam cell formation, inflammation, plaque formation/progression, platelet aggregation, thrombus formation, and plaque rupture. EPA also improves atherogenic dyslipidemia characterized by reduction of triglycerides without raising low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Other beneficial effects of EPA include vasodilation, resulting in blood pressure reductions, as well as improved membrane fluidity. EPA's effects are at least additive to those of statins when given as adjunctive therapy. In this review, we present data supporting the biologic plausibility of EPA as an anti-atherosclerotic agent with potential clinical benefit for prevention of CV events, as well as its cellular effects and molecular mechanisms of action. REDUCE-IT is an ongoing, randomized, controlled study evaluating whether the high-purity ethyl ester of EPA (icosapent ethyl) at 4 g/day combined with statin therapy is superior to statin therapy alone for reducing CV events in high-risk patients with mixed dyslipidemia. The results from this study are expected to clarify the role of EPA as adjunctive therapy to a statin for reduction of residual CV risk. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NCND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Phase 1 study of arsenic trioxide, high-dose cytarabine, and idarubicin to down-regulate constitutive signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 activity in patients aged <60 years with acute myeloid leukemia.

BACKGROUND: Constitutive activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT3) was detected in blasts from approximately 50% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and was correlated with an adverse outcome. In vitro treatment of AML blasts with arsenic trioxide (ATO) down-regulated STAT3 activity within 6 hours associated with a reduced viability within 48 hours. METHODS: A phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the biologically effective dose and/or the maximally tolerated dose (MTD) of ATO in vivo in conjunction with high-dose cytarabine (Hidac) and idarubicin (Ida) in patients with AML aged <60 years was conducted. Data were compared with 117 historic AML patients who had received treatment with Hidac/Ida. RESULTS: In total, 61 patients were enrolled onto 11 different dose levels (from 0.01 to 0.65 mg/kg ideal body weight). The MTD was 0.5 mg/kg. Compared with historic controls, patients who received ATO/Hidac/Ida, although they had similar pretreatment characteristics, had better overall survival (P = .039). CONCLUSIONS: ATO priming may have improved the outcome of patients aged <60 years with AML who received Hidac/Ida. The current data suggested that ATO may enhance the effect of chemotherapy. The authors concluded that further studies of this novel combination are warranted. Cancer 2011;. © 2011 American Cancer Society.
Electrokinetic effect of the Loma Prieta earthquake calculated by an entire-Earth FDTD solution of Maxwell's equations

[1] We report what we believe to be the first threedimensional computational solution of the full-vector Maxwell’s equations for hypothesized pre-seismic electromagnetic phenomena propagated within the entire Earth-ionosphere cavity. Periodic boundary conditions are used in conjunction with a variable-cell finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) space lattice wrapping around the complete Earth-sphere and extending ±100 km radially from sea level. This technique permits a direct timedomain calculation of round-the-world ULF/ELF propagation accounting for arbitrary horizontal as well as vertical geometrical and electrical inhomogeneities/ anisotropies of the excitation, ionosphere, lithosphere, and oceans. In this study, we model electrokinetic currents at depths of 2.5 km and 17 km near the hypocenter of the Loma Prieta earthquake and compare the FDTDcalculated surface magnetic field to analytical results and measurements previously reported in the literature. We accommodate the complete physics introduced by impulsive electromagnetic wave propagation through the conductive Earth, and hence illustrate the importance of solving the full Maxwell’s equations when modeling current sources within the Earth’s crust. Our calculated spectra agree qualitatively with those reported by FraserSmith et al. (1990). Citation: Simpson, J. J., and A. Taflove (2005), Electrokinetic effect of the Loma Prieta earthquake calculated by an entire-Earth FDTD solution of Maxwell’s equations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L09302, doi:10.1029/ 2005GL022601.
Oscillatory Shear Stress Stimulates Adhesion Molecule Expression in Cultured Human Endothelium

Abstract—Low and oscillatory shear stresses are major features of the hemodynamic environment of sites opposite arterial flow dividers that are predisposed to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a focal inflammatory disease characterized initially by the recruitment of mononuclear cells into the arterial wall. The specific characteristics of the hemodynamic environment that facilitate the generation of arterial inflammatory responses in the presence of, for example, hyperlipidemia are unknown. We show here that prolonged oscillatory shear stress induces expression of endothelial cell leukocyte adhesion molecules, which are centrally important in mediating leukocyte localization into the arterial wall. Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 was upregulated an average 9-fold relative to endothelial monolayers in static culture. Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and E-selectin exhibited 11-fold and 7.5-fold increases, respectively. Upregulation of these adhesion molecules was associated with enhanced monocyte adh...
Synthesis of optically pure deuterium-labelled nicotine, nornicotine and cotinine

We describe methods for the synthesis of enantiomerically pure (S)-nicotine-3′,3′-d2. (S)-nornicotine-3′,3′-d2, and (S)-cotinine-4′,4′-d2. The key intermediate was 5-bromomyosmine, which underwent base catalyzed exchange with deuterium oxide to give 5-bromomyosmine-3′,3′-d2 with > 99% incorporation of label. This intermediate was reduced to (±)-5-bromonornicotine-3′,3′-d2 with sodium borohydride, resolved, and converted to (S)-nornicotine-3′,3′-d2 by reductive debromination with hydrogen and a palladium catalyst. Reductive alkylation with formaldehyde and sodium borohydride provided (S)-nicotine-3′,3′-d2. which was converted to (S)-cotinine-4′,4′-d2 by reaction with bromine followed by zinc reduction. The deuterium label is located at positions that are not attacked in the major routes of mammalian metabolism of these alkaloids. Syntheses of tetradeuterated analogs of nicotine and cotinine and a pentadeuterated analog of nicotine, in which additional deuterium atoms are incorporated in the methyl groups, are also reported.
The effect of enforcement on merchant compliance with the minimum legal drinking age law.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention to deter underage alcohol sales by targeting alcohol retailers instead of underage youth. A quasi-experiment using a repeated-intervention design was conducted for a random sample (n=143) of off-sale alcohol outlets from across New Orleans. Compliance checks of off-sale outlets were conducted at baseline, two months after the intervention, and eight months after the intervention. At baseline, only 11.2% (16/143) of outlets were compliant. Following the intervention, compliance increased to 39.9% (p<.001). The increase in compliance was greatest among outlets receiving citations for non compliance (23/45, 51.1%; p<.001); however, a significant increase in compliance (34/98, 34.7%; p<.001) was also observed among outlets that did not receive a citation but were only exposed to the media coverage of the issuing of citations. A small residual effect of the intervention persisted at eight months post intervention among the outlets receiv...
Live imaging of endogenous Collapsin response mediator protein-1 expression at subcellular resolution during zebrafish nervous system development

Collapsin response mediator proteins (CRMPs) are cytosolic phosphoproteins that are functionally important during vertebrate development. We have generated a zebrafish gene trap line that produces fluorescently tagged Crmp1 protein, which can be dynamically tracked in living fish at subcellular resolution. The results show that Crmp1 is expressed in numerous sites in the developing nervous system. Early expression is apparent in the forebrain, epiphysis, optic tectum and the developing spinal cord. In the larval brain, Crmp1 is expressed in several distinct brain regions, such as the telencephalon, habenula and cerebellum. In addition, it is expressed in the spinal cord in a manner that persists in the larva. The results suggest that this Crmp1 protein trap line offers a powerful tool to track selected neuronal populations at high resolution.
Implications of Viral Resistance to Amantadine in Control of Influenza A

Antiviral agents are valuable adjuncts to vaccine in the control of type A influenza. Amantadine has been available for many years for prophylaxis and therapy, but there have been concerns about side effects, particularly in the elderly. Thus, the anticipated licensure of rimantadine, an antiviral with the same efficacy as amantadine but with fewer side effects, has been viewed as a major advance. Rimantadine has thus far remained unlicensed, and attention has become focused on antiviral resistance to these drugs, an issue previously recognized but not considered important in decisions concerning drug use. The major implications of antiviral resistance relate to questions of whether there are differences in pathogenicity and transmissibility of resistant influenza type A viruses in comparison with sensitive ones. Resistant viruses have not been found to be more virulent than sensitive ones. The extent to which they may be transmitted or perpetuated has not been established. In light of this situation, it is suggested that drug use not be sharply restricted and that recommendations be periodically reviewed as more definitive data become available. As with any infectious disease, attempts should be made to limit exposure of uninfected individuals to those infected with the influenza A virus, regardless of whether they are receiving an antiviral drug.
A Multi-Axis Imaging Study of Spark-Assisted Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition Phenomena in a Single-Cylinder Research Engine

High-speed imaging combined with the optical access provided by a single-cylinder research engine offer the ability to directly study ignition and combustion phenomena. Such data provide valuable insight into the physical and chemical mechanisms important in advanced engine combustion strategies. In this study, crank-angle resolved chemiluminescence imaging data both orthogonal to and along the piston axis were used to investigate homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) operation of a single-cylinder four-valve optical engine fueled using indolene. This preliminary study focused on identifying how multi-axis imaging can contribute to understanding the effects of spark-assist on HCCI performance. Operating conditions of advanced spark ignition timing for extending the lean limits of bulk charge compression ignition were used. The experiments were performed at a fixed equivalence ratio of φ = 0.56, with fixed intake conditions (wide open throttle with air preheat). The multi-axis imaging provides a clear indication of the propagation of a reaction front from the spark kernel. The combination of orthogonal and axial views may provide valuable information spatially resolving volumetric heat release, thereby providing an indication of the fractional energy release due to the spark assist compared to the energy released by auto-ignition.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Subgraphs with triangular components

Corradi and Hajnal [5] showed that if the minimum degree @d(G) of a graph on p vertices satisfies the inequality @d(G) >= 13(2@r - 1), then G has a subgraph consisting of [13@r] triangular components. They gave a class of graphs which shows that their inequality is best possible. In this paper, we characterize the extremal graphs G, and we thereby show that there are two classes of graphs G for which the inequality is best possible.
Serologic Abnormalities in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Associated with Viral Hepatitis and Tuberculosis

A 38-year-old Turkish woman with the clinical diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus but with negative LE cell tests developed a positive LE cell test and anti-DNA and anti-RNA antibodies coincident to manifestations of serum hepatitis. Tuberculosis, present at the same time, may have been an additional factor.
Perceptual constancy and the perceived magnitude of muscle forces

The present study used a force-matching task to measure how accurately subjects could match a force using different muscle groups. Forces ranging in magnitude from 2 to 10 N were produced and matched by three muscle groups: the elbow flexors, the forearm and hand muscles involved in the palmar prehensile grasp, and the index finger flexors. The ability to match forces was considered in terms of precision, that is, how closely the matching forces approximated the reference force produced on the contralateral side, and accuracy, which is the reproducibility of the matching force estimates. The results indicated that the perceived magnitude of forces varied as a function of the muscle group generating the force. Forces produced by the index finger flexors were consistently overestimated in magnitude when matched by elbow flexion forces, and elbow forces were underestimated when matched by flexing the index finger. When evaluated in terms of constant and absolute errors, the index finger flexors were the most precise matching muscle group and the elbow flexors the least precise. These results suggest that forces are perceived relatively, and are scaled with reference to the operating range of the muscles. They also indicate that there is little perceptual constancy in the perceived magnitude of forces generated by different muscle groups.
Joint Coverage Scheduling and Identity Management for Multiple-Target Tracking in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless surveillance sensor networks are often required to track multiple targets accurately, especially when the targets come close to each other at so-called mixing regions. This research presents eTrack protocol to address the following two problems for a number of targets and their mixing region: (i) which sensor nodes should be scheduled to sense a particular event such that targets are tracked accurately, and (ii) which pair of tracks passing through the mixing region belong to a particular target. To tackle the scheduling problem, eTrack introduces a first-of-its-kind closed-loop coverage control technique that allocates resources of sensor nodes for each target in proportion with its required tracking accuracy. To handle the identity management problem, eTrack exploits the fact that targets prefer certain paths through a mixing region and takes advantage of the spatio-temporal correlation of events detected by different sensor nodes within the mixing region for the same target. Simulation results that eTrack significantly reduces the computation and communication overhead with mixing regions while achieving better tracking accuracy than existing multiple target tracking techniques.
Intrinsically-low Brillouin gain optical fibers

Numerous methods to increase the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) threshold have been previously implemented. Some are passive, based on acousto-optic fiber designs that incorporate longitudinally- or radially-tailored optical and/or acoustic index profiles, leading to broadened Brillouin gain spectra (BGS) with reduced peak gain. Some are active, relying on an applied temperature or strain distribution, also resulting in broadened BGS. Broadening the laser spectrum still represents the most effective method to-date to obtain large-scale (> 20 dB) decreases in the gain, but the suitability of this method depends largely on the application and system requirements on the laser spectrum. Despite these technologies, some introduced only in the last decade, the vast majority of high-energy, narrow-linewidth fiber laser systems are still limited by SBS rather than the availability of pump power. We present an alternative approach; rather than focusing on ‘suppressing’ SBS in waveguide or other designs, we propose implementing materials with intrinsically low Brillouin gain. We focus on high-density, high-soundvelocity, large acoustic-damping-coefficient, and low-photoelastic-constant materials wherein the correct balancing of physical characteristics gives rise to extremely low Brillouin gain. In general, the approach requires the use of compositions that would be considered to be highly unconventional and unachievable utilizing standard fiber fabrication methods. For example, we describe recent results on sapphire-derived fibers (among other compositions) wherein a Brillouin gain nearly 20 dB lower than those of more conventional fibers has been realized. Other compositions will also be presented, including new results on a novel baria doped fiber, including others predicted to have zero-valued photoelastic constants, and therefore zero Brillouin gain.
Two-dimensional oxidation

This paper introduces the first general two-dimensional oxidation model based on steady-state oxygen diffusion and the slow incompressible viscous flow of oxide. The moving-boundary problem is solved through a novel numerical technique based on pressure/velocity iteration and a boundary-value approach. The simulation results obtained for oxide shape and bird's beak size versus pad-oxide thickness are in excellent agreement with experiments. This model is also able to calculate stress on the silicon interface during oxidation; this calculated value (6 × 109dyne/cm2) also agrees with the measurement and reveals the tendency of stress to decrease with increasing pad-oxide thickness.
Vortices wiggled and dragged

When a sufficiently strong magnetic field is applied to a superconductor, some of the field can pierce it through the generation of magnetic vortices, each of which contains a quantized amount of magnetic flux. Although the superconducting state of the material outside each vortex is maintained (and destroyed within each vortex), the interaction of vortices with a current passing through the material can cause them to move, dissipating energy and thereby generating a source of electrical resistance. The ability to manipulate an individual superconducting vortex represents a powerful tool for studying the dynamics of vortices and the superconductors that support them. It could also lead to the development of a new class of fluxon-based electronics.
An expanding universe of circadian networks in higher plants

Extensive circadian clock networks regulate almost every biological process in plants. Clock-controlled physiological responses are coupled with daily oscillations in environmental conditions resulting in enhanced fitness and growth vigor. Identification of core clock components and their associated molecular interactions has established the basic network architecture of plant clocks, which consists of multiple interlocked feedback loops. A hierarchical structure of transcriptional feedback overlaid with regulated protein turnover sets the pace of the clock and ultimately drives all clock-controlled processes. Although originally described as linear entities, increasing evidence suggests that many signaling pathways can act as both inputs and outputs within the overall network. Future studies will determine the molecular mechanisms involved in these complex regulatory loops.
Use of the polymerase chain reaction to study arthritis due to Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

OBJECTIVE:To explore the utility of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the diagnosis, management, and investigation of arthritis due to Neisseria gonorrhoeae. METHODS:The PCR was used to detect DNA from N gonorrhoeae in model systems and in extracts of synovial fluid (SF) from patients with systemic gonococcal infections and objective evidence of arthritis. RESULTS:One N gonorrhoeae organism or its equivalent was detectable in human SF from inflamed joints. Five of 8 patients with systemic N gonorrhoeae infection and arthritis had N gonorrhoeae DNA demonstrated by PCR in at least 1 pretreatment SF specimen that was N gonorrhoeae culture positive. Thirty-seven of 38 control specimens were negative, the exception probably being due to cross-contamination from a positive specimen. All specimens that were positive for N gonorrhoeae by other methods were also positive by PCR. Two others were positive by PCR but negative by other methods. Four pretreatment specimens were negative by all methods, including PCR. This suggests that, for these patients, negative cultures reflected true absence of N gonorrhoeae, and not the presence of unculturable organisms. This group also had a significantly shorter duration of disease than did the patients with N gonorrhoeae DNA found in their SF. All patients had a prompt response to antibiotic treatment. Two of 3 patients whose specimens were previously positive showed marked decreases in SF N gonorrhoeae DNA after treatment. CONCLUSION:The PCR using these or similar oligonucleotide primers can be a useful adjunct in the diagnosis of gonococcal arthritis and can be of value in assessing its response to therapy. In some N gonorrhoeae-associated arthritides, there appears to be a lack of both viable and nonviable N gonorrhoeae organisms in the SF. These observations may have implications regarding the pathogenesis of this form of arthritis.
Alkylating agent interactions with the nuclear matrix.

Abstract The interrelationship of DNA to the nuclear matrix is integral to the organization of chromatin within the nucleus and to the DNA replication process. The influence of nitrosourea and nitrogen mustard interactions with the nuclear matrix were studied in log phase HeLa cells. Alkylation of the nuclear matrix by chlorozotocin (CLZ) or 1-(2-chloroethyl-3-cyclohexyl)-1-nitrosourea (CCNU) was 1.58 and 1.27 pmoles drug/μg protein, respectively, whereas carbamoylation by CCNU was 32.5 pmoles/μg. These constituted approximately 30% of the total (nuclear) drug modifications. The structural matricin fibrillar components of the matrix were alkylated and carbamoylated twice as much as the ribonuclear protein elements (RNP). However, when alkylations are measured per microgram of protein, the ratio of covalently bound drug to RNP:matricin was 1.2 for both CLZ and CCNU. The RNP:matricin carbamoylation ratio for CCNU was 0.9. The importance of DNA and matrix protein alkylations to the process of reassociation was studied. Under control conditions, in vitro , approximately 80% of the DNA was associated with the matrix at a protein:DNA ratio (μg for μg) of 50:1. Direct alkylation or carbamoylation of the matrix proteins did not affect these DNA-protein interactions. However, using in vitro alkylated DNA (1 alkylation/10 2 base pairs), there was a 60% reduction of the alkylated nucleic acid bound to the matrix at the same protein: DNA ratio. The reduced binding of DNA to matrix may be a function of interference with the DNA recognition sites by alkylation of specific bases. The interference of DNA-matrix association by DNA alkylation may contribute to the cytotoxic activity of these antineoplastic agents.
Undiagnosed myasthenia gravis in emergency psychiatric referrals

The diagnosis of myasthenia gravis is difficult to make in the emergency department. Reported are two cases in which myasthenia was not suspected and the patients were referred to the emergency psychiatrist. In both cases, when appropriate medical treatment was instituted, the psychological symptoms disappeared.
A relationship between reynolds stresses and viscous dissipation: Implications to red cell damage

Viscous shearing is examined as a mechanism by which turbulent flows can cause cellular damage. The use of Reynolds stress as an indicator of hemolysis is considered, and an alternative measure based on viscous dissipation is proposed. It is shown that under simple flow conditions the Reynolds stresses can be related to viscous dissipation. Data from the literature show that the instantaneous viscous shear stress at which hemolysis occurs is similar to the shear stress thresholds obtained from laminar flow studies. Also, the Kolmogorov length scales for most of the turbulent hemolysis studies are similar to the size of a red blood cell. These observations indicate that, for the jet and couette experiments examined, viscous shearing is an important mechanism in the destruction of erythrocytes by turbulence. However, pressure fluctuations may also contribute to damage for these cells and for cells of similar or larger size.
Specifying axon identity with Syd-1

A molecule that may be important for sorting presynaptic components into the developing axon is now revealed by a study using the genetic tools available in C. elegans.
Ballistic Deployment of Science Packages on Binary Asteroids

A simple, adaptable, and robust method for ballistic landings on the surface of a binary asteroid system is presented. The desire is to deploy a lander, from a mother spacecraft passing in the vicinity of one of the collinear libration point of the system, on an unpowered trajectory, meaning that active guidance is not needed. From the concepts of the circular restricted three-body problem, suitably adapted for the objective, the features that make such a strategy feasible for any asteroid binary system are detailed. Proving that this strategy is effective for a wide range of actual binary systems, the requirements on the deployment are found to be very robust to operational accuracy.
Unified yes, renormalised maybe

Several recent reports1–3 have suggested that recent neutrino and polarised electron scattering experiments are not particular tests of the ‘standard theory’ of weak interactions, but only establish the strength and form of the weak neutral current appearing in the effective weak lagrangian along with the classical charged-current (J±) interactions. Whether or not weak vector mesons exist, the current experiments confirm the existence of an effective lagrangian (2) containing a weak neutral current (1) with the one parameter sin2θw. This letter shows that this already establishes some unification of electron and weak interactions, so that the question is no longer “Is unification really true?”3, but rather “Is the theory SU2 × U1 symmetric and renormalisable?” It also shows that, although weak charged currents must show structure1 below 160 GeV, the weak neutral currents can be structureless, that is mz = ∞ is compatible with the observed current (1).
Fusion of ground-penetrating radar and electromagnetic induction sensors for landmine detection and discrimination

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensors provide complementary capabilities in detecting buried targets such as landmines, suggesting that the fusion of GPR and EMI modalities may provide improved detection performance over that obtained using only a single modality. This paper considers both pre-screening and the discrimination of landmines from non-landmine objects using real landmine data collected from a U.S. government test site as part of the Autonomous Mine Detection System (AMDS) landmine program. GPR and EMI pre-screeners are first reviewed and then a fusion pre-screener is presented that combines the GPR and EMI prescreeners using a distance-based likelihood ratio test (DLRT) classifier to produce a fused confidence for each pre-screener alarm. The fused pre-screener is demonstrated to provide substantially improved performance over the individual GPR and EMI pre-screeners. The discrimination of landmines from non-landmine objects using feature-based classifiers is also considered. The GPR feature utilized is a pre-processed, spatially filtered normalized energy metric. Features used for the EMI sensor include model-based features generated from the AETC model and a dipole model as well as features from a matched subspace detector. The EMI and GPR features are then fused using a random forest classifier. The fused classifier performance is superior to the performance of classifiers using GPR or EMI features alone, again indicating that performance improvements may be obtained through the fusion of GPR and EMI sensors. The performance improvements obtained both for pre-screening and for discrimination have been verified by blind test results scored by an independent U.S. government contractor.
Tetrahydropteridine-dependent cleavage enzyme for O-alkyl lipids: substrate specificity.

The tetrahydropteridine-requiring enzyme in rat liver microsomes that oxidatively cleaved the O-alkyl moiety of glycerolipids does not utilize alkyl glycerolipid substrates that contain carbonyl, acyl, or phosphate groups on the glycerol portion. However, the ether linkage in rac and 1-, 2-, or 3-isomeric forms of alkylglycerols and 1-alkyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylethanolamine is readily cleaved by the pteridine-requiring enzyme. Therefore, it appears that hydrolytic enzymes play an essential role in conjunction with the cleavage enzyme in the regulation of cellular levels of O-alkyl moieties in glycerolipids.
Characterization of 11 new mutations in COL3A1 of individuals with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV: preliminary comparison of RNase cleavage, EMC and DHPLC assays.

We report on 12 patients with EDS IV in whom clinical diagnosis was confirmed by biochemical analysis of collagen type III, and further proven by mutation analysis of the COL3A1 gene. Four overlapping RT-PCR products covering the coding sequence for the triple-helical domain of type III collagen were analyzed by direct sequencing. So far, we have identified, 4 base changes at donor splice junctions, and 1 base change at an acceptor splice site, which all affect mRNA splicing; 1 genomic deletion, which removes exon 45; and 6 nucleotide changes, which cause substitutions of glycine residues within the triple helix. Eleven of the 12 identified mutations are newly recognized. Furthermore, we report a preliminary comparison of RNase cleavage, EMC and DHPLC assays in mutation detection in the COL3A1 gene.
HIV Transmission Rate Modeling: A Primer, Review, and Extension

Several mathematical modeling studies based on the concept of “HIV transmission rates” have recently appeared in the literature. The transmission rate for a particular group of HIV-infected persons is defined as the mean number of secondary infections per member of the group per unit time. This article reviews the fundamental principles and mathematics of transmission rate models; explicates the relationship between these models, Bernoullian models of HIV transmission, and mathematical models based on the concept of the “reproductive rate of infection”; describes an extension of existing transmission rate models to better incorporate the positive impact of HIV treatment; and discusses the limitations of the transmission rate modeling approach. Results from the extended transmission rate model indicate that approximately 51.6% of new sexually-transmitted infections in the US are due to the transmission risk behaviors of infected persons who are unaware of their infection, including 10.9% due to persons in the acute phase of HIV infection. Findings from this study suggest that significant reductions in HIV incidence likely will require a combination of increased antibody testing, enhanced early detection of acute HIV infection, appropriate medical care and antiretroviral medicine adherence counseling, and behavioral risk reduction interventions.
Brittle-to-ductile transition in polycrystalline NiAl

Abstract The brittle-to-ductile transition (BDT) of stoichiometric NiAl and Ni 49Al 1Ti alloys was investigated using tensile and fracture toughness testing methods. The BDT in these alloys was found to be associated with a sharp drop in strain hardening rate, which causes the general yielding and plastic instability (necking) to precede unstable fracture in notched and tensile specimens, respectively. The addition of Ti increases the strength, low temperature toughness, and BDT temperature of NiAl significantly. The occurrence of intergranular fracture in NiAl alloys has been correlated with the development of localized internal stresses near grain boundaries owing to a lack of sufficient slip systems. The results of this study suggest that the vacancy concentration in NiAl depends significantly on the stress state and the amount of deformation. This phenomenon may be responsible for the microvoid coalescence fracture mechanism observed in tensile specimens, and the enhancement of dislocation climb at moderate temperatures.
The excretion and tissue distribution of C14-carbonyl salicylamide in the rat.

This investigation was undertaken to determine the excretion and tissue distribution of C 14 -carbonyl labeled salicylamide and its metabolites in the rat. Twenty-four hours following the administration of 2 50 mg./Kg. of salicylamide containing 2.35 juc. of C 14 , 96.9 per cent of the administered radioactivity was found in the urine. Thirty minutes following the oral administration of 250 mg./Kg. of the compound containing 4.35 (ic. of C 14 the greatest quantity of the drug and its metabolites was found in the kidney. The brain-plasma ratio expressed on a dry weight basis was found to be 1.72.
Some applications of the psychoanalytic concept of object relatedness: Preliminary studies on a human relations content analysis scale applicable to verbal samples

Summary Psychoanalytic therapy has benefits far beyond the one-to-one relationship between analyst and analysand. The benefit focused upon here is to the hypothesis-generating function of psychoanalysis and to those scientific hypotheses broadly applicable to social and educational problems outside the psychoanalytic situation itself. The psychoanalytic concept of levels or degree of object relations is used as an illustration to emphasize this thesis. A human relations scale has been derived from the dimension of object relatedness. This scale consists of weighted categories of themes, appearing in written or spoken language (per grammatical clause) which are likely to indicate positive (approach) or negative (withdrawal) positions with respect to human object relationships. Using frequency of occurrence of such themes and the direct representativeness or centrality of these themes as a weighting factor, a score can be derived from verbal samples which gives an estimate (on a probability basis) of the level of the speaker's capacity for human (object) relations. Preliminary construct validation and inter-rater reliability studies of this measurement procedure have been carried out. The current Human Relations Scale for the content analysis of verbal behavior consists of content categories and associated weights modified and adjusted on the basis of these empirical studies. Revalidation studies are presently being done. The significance and implications of these studies with the human relations scores are discussed.
Tribology of skin

AbstractTribological studies of skin provide valuable insight into how the properties of skin are altered with various conditions and chemical treatments. This work reviews the frictional and the electrical properties of the skin surface, with an emphasis on the measurement of the friction coefficient. Many designs have been utilized and past studies have included numerous probe geometries and materials. An advantage of tribological measurements is that they offer a non-invasive way to quantitatively measure skin hydration and health. Skin friction seems to be dependent on several factors such as age, anatomical site, and skin hydration. The design of the measuring instrument and the probe geometry and material also affect the friction measurement. Clinically, it was found that skin with decreased hydration, as with psoriasis or atopic dermatitis, had a reduced friction coefficient and an increased resistance to current flow. Chemical treatments influence skin hydration level and affect the friction coeff...
Synthesis of Arene-Soluble Dizirconium Nonaisopropoxide Lanthanide Cations Involving Divalent Ytterbium

The di-zirconium-nona-isopropoxide (dzni) ligand allows preparation of arene-soluble cationic complexes containing a divalent lanthanide such as the {(dzni)Yb(THF)2}+ cation shown here. The unsolva...
Passively mode-locked quantum dot diode lasers

Passively mode-locked quantum-dot diode lasers without saturable absorbers and artificial dispersion compensators are successfully developed on an InAs/InP material system. Their ultra-high repetition rates up to 100GHz, pulse durations down to 300fs, and multi-wavelength synchronization operation are also demonstrated.
Identifying Sets of Constraint Forces by Inspection

A mechanical system is often modeled as a set of particles and rigid bodies, some of which are constrained in one way or another. A concise method is proposed for identifying a set of constraint forces needed to ensure the restrictions are met. Identification consists of determining the direction of each constraint force and the point at which it must be applied, as well as the direction of the torque of each constraint force couple, together with the body on which the couple acts. This important information can be determined simply by inspecting constraint equations written in vector form. For the kinds of constraints commonly encountered, the constraint equations are expressed in terms of dot products involving velocities of the affected points or particles and angular velocities of the bodies concerned. The technique of expressing constraint equations in vector form and identifying constraint forces by inspection is useful when one is deriving explicit, analytical equations of motion by hand or with the aid of symbolic algebra software, as demonstrated with several examples.