cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 889: Biochemical and histopathological evaluation of Al2O3nanomaterials in kidney of Wistar rats

The present study was investigated to evaluate the response of kidneys in Wistar rats following long term exposure to Al2O3 nanomaterials. To achieve this objective, Al2O3 of three different sizes (30nm, 40nm and bulk) was orally administered for 28 days to 9 groups of 10 Wistar rats each at the dose of 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg/rat. A tenth group of 10 rats received distilled water and served as control. After 28 days of exposure the animals were sacrificed and the serum was collected and tested for the activity levels of creatinine and urea following standard methods. Induction of oxidative stress was also investigated by assessing TBARS (MDA), Protein carbonyl, reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities. A Histopathological evaluation was also performed to determine the extent of kidney damage. The results showed that both serum creatinine and serum urea levels increased significantly in the treated rats compared to control animals. The increase was found to be more in Al2O3-30nm followed by Al2O3-40nm and Al2O3-bulk treated rats in a dose-dependent manner. Further administration of Al2O3 significantly increased the activities of TBARS, protein carbonyl, catalase and decreased the activities of GSH and SOD in a dose dependent manner in the kidney of rats compared with control group. Histopathological evaluation showed significant morphological alterations in kidney tissue of treated rats in accordance with biochemical parameters. Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate that Al2O3 is nephrotoxic and its toxicity may be mediated through oxidative stress. Further, the results suggest that prolonged oral exposure to Al2O3 NMs has the potential to cause biochemical and histological alterations in kidney of rats at high concentration. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Anita Patlolla, Paul Tchounwou. Biochemical and histopathological evaluation of Al2O3 nanomaterials in kidney of Wistar rats [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 889.
Twenty Years of Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education from the Perspectives of Five Dynamic Women Who Have Led the Program

In preparation for the completion of this book, we had the pleasure of interviewing the five dynamic “women math warriors” who have served as co-directors of the EDGE Program throughout its 20 years of existence, in an effort to hear firsthand about the vision and impact of the EDGE Program. The account below provides an overview of the history, contributions, and hopes for the future of the EDGE Program as seen through the eyes of its beloved founders and directors.
Acoustic feedback enables safe and reliable carboplatin delivery across the blood-brain barrier with a clinical focused ultrasound system and improves survival in a rat glioma model

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) restricts delivery of most chemotherapy agents to brain tumors. Here, we investigated a clinical focused ultrasound (FUS) device to disrupt the BBB in rats and enhance carboplatin delivery to the brain using the F98 glioma model. Methods: In each rat, 2-3 volumetric sonications (5 ms bursts at 1.1 Hz for 75s) targeted 18-27 locations in one hemisphere. Sonication was combined with Definity microbubbles (10 µl/kg) and followed by intravenous carboplatin (50 mg/kg). Closed-loop feedback control was performed based on acoustic emissions analysis. Results: Safety and reliability were established in healthy rats after three sessions with carboplatin; BBB disruption was induced in every target without significant damage evident in MRI or histology. In tumor-bearing rats, concentrations of MRI contrast agent (Gadavist) were 1.7 and 3.3 times higher in the tumor center and margin, respectively, than non-sonicated tumors (P<0.001). Tissue-to-plasma ratios of intact carboplatin concentrations were increased by 7.3 and 2.9 times in brain and tumor respectively, at one hour after FUS and 4.2 and 2.4 times at four hours. Tumor volume doubling time in rats receiving FUS and carboplatin increased by 96% and 126% compared to rats that received carboplatin alone and non-sonicated controls, respectively (P<0.05); corresponding increases in median survival were 48% and 66% (P<0.01). Conclusion: Overall, this work demonstrates that actively-controlled BBB disruption with a clinical device can enhance carboplatin delivery without neurotoxicity at level that reduces tumor growth and improves survival in an aggressive and infiltrative rat glioma model.
Affective Encounters: Women, Hope, and Activism in Egypt

Few months back I was asked to write a synopsis of my book on women’s experiences in the 2011 Egyptian uprising. In Women and the Egyptian Revolution: Engagement and Activism During the 2011 Arab Uprisings, I offered an oral history of women’s engagement in the January 25th uprising that led to the ousting of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. As I sat down thinking about my book, remembering my fieldwork, and reflecting on the present turn of events in Egypt, I, yet again, was quickly overwhelmed by feelings of futility. Futility is increasingly an all-too-common feeling; it is present whenever I think or write about the experiences of women in the 2011 episode of contention. The uprising, a then seemingly political juncture in Egypt’s history, ended with the consolidation of authoritarianism and the persecution of activists, including independent feminists. Even as I write about my swirl of emotions, I feel guilty; they pale in comparison to the experiences of activists who risked their lives for reform only to live through the consolidation of authoritarianism. Notwithstanding the overwhelming disappointment, I sit down to write this chapter. More importantly, many activists continue to maintain hope and hold onto the memory of resistance notwithstanding a crippling political system and an overwhelming disappointment. This affective status ignites the essence of the chapter, the essence of the chapter is ignited by activists’ affirmation that their experience in the uprising has changed them, and that “things cannot go back to the old days,” notwithstanding their disappointment over the turn of events. In this chapter, I map some of the ways in which hope unfolded among female activists after the 2011 Egyptian uprising. The analysis presented attempts to provide preliminary answers to the following question: How can we explain women’s activism following the uprising notwithstanding the prevalence of disappointment among women’s groups?
Social media as a recruitment method to reach a diverse sample of bereaved parents

Abstract Background Recruiting a diverse group of parents who are grieving the loss of a child into research is challenging. Social media users represent all demographic groups in the United States. Online platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, may be one potential method to reach and recruit a diverse group of bereaved parents. To our knowledge, this is the first known article to describe social media as a recruitment mechanism for bereaved parents. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe 1) how the social media platforms of Facebook and Twitter were used to recruit bereaved parents into a cross-sectional, online survey, and 2) the effectiveness of social media as a recruitment tool for this population. Conclusions Social media has the potential to be an effective recruitment tool to reach a diverse group of users. More research is needed, however, to determine the best methods to reach fathers as well as racial and ethnic minorities.
Family Sexuality Communication: Parent Report for Autistic Young Adults Versus a Comparison Group

Families are a critical context for healthy sexuality development. This study characterized family sexuality communication for autistic adults (age 18–30) without intellectual disability (n = 117) versus a neurotypical comparison group (n = 319). Parent-reported number of sexuality topics covered did not significantly differ by gender or autism/comparison group. Parents of autistic adults who covered few or no topics (31%) reported higher religiosity, lower comfort and self-efficacy, and were less likely to say that the adult expressed attraction or desire for relationships. Parents of autistic adults were more likely than comparison parents to perceive their young person as being uninterested or not ready to learn about sexuality topics. These results suggest that families of autistic people require support to convey sexuality-related knowledge and values.
Gestrinone combined with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist for endometriosis

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist ( GnRH-a ) combined with gestrinone in the treatment of endometriosis.Methods 80 patients with endometriosis were randomly assigned to receive gestrinone combined with GnRH-a ( study group ),or GnRH-a alone ( control group ).The symptoms,signs, and findings of pelvic ultrasonic examination were observed and analyzed.Results In the study group, 36 patients were cured,3 had symptom relief,and one developed relapse,whereas 29 patients were cured,9 had symptom relief,and 2 occurred relapse in the control group,with a significant difference ( P＜ 0.05 ).The rate of adverse reactions including vaginal bleeding and ALT elevation differed significantly between the two groups ( P＜ 0.05 ).As compared with the baselines,levels of FSH,LH,and E2 declined significantly in the study group ( P＜ 0.05 ) but did not change significantly in the control group ( P ＞ 0.05 ).Conclusions Gestrinone combined with GnRH-a can effectively improve the therapeutic effect and can reduce the rates of relapse rate and adverse reactions.It ias a valuable therapy. Key words: Gestrinone; Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist; Endometriosis; Clinical research
Swashplate Pitch Link Design Optimization and Kinematic Synthesis Using Semi Compliant Mechanism

This study presents the design, analysis and modeling of a large deflecting compliant swashplate mechanism that is actuated by rigid pitch links. Pitch links are actuated by high torque servo motors. Kinematic analysis of the entire mechanism is obtained by integrating vector closure loop equations. Modeling of small length flexural pivots is achieved by fitting a high order polynomial to the load deflection curve obtained from both pseudo rigid body modeling (PRBM) and MSc Adams analysis. Effects of the thickness and length of the rigid and flexures on deflection of flexible segments are analyzed experimentally. Experimental setup is built by 3D printing mechanism parts using polylactic acid (PLA) and assembling together with ball bearings and pin joints. Tip position of the mechanism is recorded by laser displacement sensor, Arduino and Matlab. It is observed that higher amplitude, quicker response time and precise motion can be achieved by the proposed compliant mechanism.
The Market Success of Corporate Spin-offs: Do CEO External Directorships, Age, and Their Interactions Matter?

Corporate spin-offs have been a major “preferred” restructuring technique in the previous couple decades in the U.S. This corporate transaction aims to create value for both divesting firm and its subsidiary. This study examines an understudied interaction of CEO external directorships and age (as well as their direct effects) in the strategy literature on the change in market valuation of spun-off subsidiaries. By drawing our cases from the SDC Platinum database, we identified 138 completed corporate U.S. spin-offs that took place between 2000 and 2014. Our empirical analysis indicates that the number of CEO external directorships as well as having a younger CEO positively and significantly affect the change in market valuation. In addition, our interaction effect shows significant results. Grounded in the upper echelons and resource dependence theories, this study contributes to the corporate governance literature in terms of understanding whether two particular CEO characteristics and their interactions hold a great deal of importance for spun-off subsidiaries’ market performance. From the perspective of managerial implications, this study suggests that having a younger CEO along with holding many external directorships will help these spun-off subsidiaries much better perform in the market.
Transpupillary Two-photon In vivo Imaging of the Mouse Retina

The retina transforms light signals from the environment into electrical signals that are propagated to the brain. Diseases of the retina are prevalent and cause visual impairment and blindness. Understanding how such diseases progress is critical to formulating new treatments. In vivo microscopy in animal models of disease is a powerful tool for understanding neurodegeneration and has led to important progress towards treatments of conditions ranging from Alzheimer's disease to stroke. Given that the retina is the only central nervous system structure inherently accessible by optical approaches, it naturally lends itself towards in vivo imaging. However, the native optics of the lens and cornea present some challenges for effective imaging access. This protocol outlines methods for in vivo two-photon imaging of cellular cohorts and structures in the mouse retina at cellular resolution, applicable for both acute- and chronic-duration imaging experiments. It presents examples of retinal ganglion cell (RGC), amacrine cell, microglial, and vascular imaging using a suite of labeling techniques including adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors, transgenic mice, and inorganic dyes. Importantly, these techniques extend to all cell types of the retina, and suggested methods for accessing other cellular populations of interest are described. Also detailed are example strategies for manual image postprocessing for display and quantification. These techniques are directly applicable to studies of retinal function in health and disease.
Resistance or Susceptibility to Production-Related Metabolic Diseases (PRMDs) Can be Predicted with Fecal and Erythrocyte Isotopic Signatures

Feces and RBC isotopic signatures in close-up and parturient cows correctly classified -75% as healthy or at PRMD risk. Measuring C and N SIA as a management tool during the peripartum period may provide an economical method to identify cow resistance or susceptibility to PRMD, for retention, breeding, early treatment intervention, or culling decisions to increase profit margins.
Architecture and Design of Microknowledge and Micro-Medical Processing Units

In this article, we briefly present the evolution of conventional processor over the last four decades as a prelude to the evolution of knowledge processors. A system of specially designed chipsets from the traditional computer architectures facilitates the solution of most generic problems in sciences and in the society. The design of such chipsets permits the micro knowledge processor unit (µkpu) lodged in a generic knowledge machine to “understand” the context of the problem in reference to the global knowledge of such problems in the world wide web. Micro-processing within the more complex procedures such as knowledge and library functions is thus reduced to logical and then into consecutive hardware functions in the knowledge processors. Medical procedures are used for illustration of the potential of the µkpus. Such medical procedures, sub-procedures and micro-procedures can be performed upon medical super objects, objects, subordinate objects and micro-objects.procedures fragmented sufficiently for the µkpus, execute assembly level type of knowledge micro instructions. Conversely, the micro instructions reassembled vertically, in a hierarchy perform major procedures. Major medical procedures such as removing malignant tissues, curing a patient, performing surgeries, etc., bring about profound changes in patients. Minor procedures represent minor effects such as authorizing a prescription, recording the temperature or blood pressure, etc.
Cell-type specific requirement for pyruvate dehydrogenase in hematopoiesis and leukemia development

Cancer cells have different metabolic requirements as compared to their corresponding normal tissues. This is thought to reflect metabolic reprogramming during transformation. An alternative possibility is that some metabolic requirements of cancer cells reflect a maintenance of the metabolism of the specific normal cell type from which cancer cells originate. Here, we investigate this hypothesis by comparing glucose use in normal hematopoiesis and in leukemia. T cell progenitors in the thymus were glucose avid and oxidized more glucose in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle through pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) as compared to hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) or other hematopoietic cells. PDH deletion reduced the number of double positive (DP) T cell progenitors but had no effect on HSCs, myeloid progenitors and other hematopoietic cells we examined. PDH deletion blocked the development of T cell leukemia from Pten-deficient DP progenitors, but not the development of a myeloid neoplasm from Pten-deficient HSCs or myeloid progenitors. Therefore, the requirement of glucose oxidation for leukemia development is inherited from the normal cell of origin and occurs independently of the driver genetic lesion. PDH was not required in vivo to generate acetyl-CoA or maintain levels of TCA cycle metabolites but to prevent pyruvate accumulation and to maintain glutathione levels and redox homeostasis.
Dynamics of two particles on a vertically driven plate

We experimentally investigate the dynamics of two particles driven vertically and free to collide in a nearly one-dimensional channel. Both spherical particles are Delrin with a diameter of d = 5.0 mm . We obtained data for driving frequencies, f , ranging from 26.06 to 29.52 HZ and acceleration magnitudes, Γ, from 1.79 to 2.42 g . High speed digital imaging is used to extract the positions of the two particles from experiment, with digital imaging analysis used to extract velocities and accelerations from sequential images. The total energy and the velocity of the particles before and after collisions are studied in both the lab frame and centre of mass frame. Most of the experimental results suggest a linear dependence for the relative velocity after collision on the relative velocity before collision with the coefficient of restitution approximately constant at 0.8. However, some data in the low impact velocity regime indicates the possibility of an occasional energy transfer between the rotational and translational degrees of freedom.
Data-driven operation of the resilient electric grid: A case of COVID-19.

Electrical energy is a vital part of modern life, and expectations for grid resilience to allow a continuous and reliable energy supply has tremendously increased even during adverse events (e.g. Ukraine cyberattack, Hurricane Maria). The global pandemic COVID-19 has raised the electric energy reliability risk due to potential workforce disruptions, supply chain interruptions, and increased possible cybersecurity threats. Additionally, the pandemic introduces a significant degree of uncertainty to the grid operation in the presence of other challenges including aging power grids, high proliferation of distributed generation, market mechanism, and active distribution network. This situation increases the need for measures for the resiliency of power grids to mitigate the impact of the pandemic as well as simultaneous extreme events including cyberattacks and adverse weather events. Solutions to manage such an adverse scenario will be multi-fold: (a) emergency planning and organisational support, (b) following safety protocol, (c) utilising enhanced automation and sensing for situational awareness, and (d) integration of advanced technologies and data points for ML-driven enhanced decision support. Enhanced digitalisation and automation resulted in better network visibility at various levels, including generation, transmission, and distribution. These data or information can be employed to take advantage of advanced machine learning techniques for automation and increased power grid resilience. In this paper, the resilience of power grids in the face of pandemics is explored and various machine learning tools that can be helpful to augment human operators are discused by: (a) reviewing the impact of COVID-19 on power grid operations and actions taken by operators/organisations to minimise the impact of COVID-19, and (b) presenting recently developed tools and concepts of machine learning and artificial intelligence that can be applied to increase the resiliency of power systems in normal and extreme scenarios such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ultrastructure of "brain death". II. Electron microscopy of feline cortex after complete ischemia

Permanent, complete global cerebral ischemia was induced in cats by filling the cardiovascular system with a plasma substitute (37° C). At variable intervals and up to 120 min thereafter, these feline brains were perfused with aldehydes and processed for electron microscopy. The resulting cellular alterations were homogeneous and uniform throughout the entire brain; they included early chromatin clumping, gradually increasing electron lucency of the cell sap, distention of endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi cisternae, transient mitochondrial condensation followed by swelling and appearance of flocculent densities, and dispersion of ribosomal rosettes. The marked contrast between the structural alterations in permanent, complete ischemia and incomplete cerebral ischemia, suggest differences in their pathogenesis. A basic determinant factor of the structural changes appears to be the volume of flow (serum, plasma, other) which is available at the time of the injury. This analysis of global cerebral ischemia provides some insight on the nature of cellular changes occurring shortly after somatic death.
An Evolutionary Analysis of Healthspan Extension Using Diet: Have We Come to the End of the Ponce de Leon Trail?

The search for compounds that enhance health span has been daunting. Many gerontological experiments on model organisms, including Drosophila species, have examined the effects of individual substances on life span solely. But it is now clear that effective alleviation of aging requires more than merely prolonged survival regardless of other functional effects. Monitoring other life-history characters is imperative. In addition, functional characters such as locomotor and cognitive capacities may be important too. Here we review the topic of healthspan extension using diet from the standpoint of evolutionary biology. We discuss proposed “rules” for evaluating candidate anti-aging substances. We point out the failings of some studies of anti-aging substances, such as resveratrol. We also critically review proposed anti-aging strategies that have been based on evolutionary reasoning, questioning some of our own earlier suggestions. Here we offer a new evolutionary strategy for dietary enhancement of healthspan, one that is as applicable to fruit flies as humans. However, our overall view is that the project of ameliorating aging using ingestible substances is without doubt challenging to a high degree.
Listening to natural and synthesized speech while driving: Effects on user performance

The effects of message type (navigation, E-mail, news story), voice type (text-to-speech, natural human speech), and earcon cueing (present, absent) on message comprehension and driving performance were examined. Twenty-four licensed drivers (12 under 30, 12 over 65, both equally divided by gender) participated in the ex- periment. They drove the UMTRI driving simulator on a road consisting of straight sections and constant radius curves, thus yielding two levels of low driving-workload. In addition, as a control condition, data were collected while participants were parked. In all conditions, participants were presented with three types of messages. Each message was immediately followed by a series of questions to assess comprehension. Navigation messages were about 4 seconds long (about 9 words). E-mail messages were about 40 seconds long (about 100 words) and news messages were about 80 seconds long (about 225 words). For all message types, comprehension of text-to-speech messages, as determined by accuracy of response to questions, and by subjective ratings, was significantly worse than comprehension of natural speech (79 versus 83 percent correct answers; 7.7/10 versus 8.6/10 subjective rating). Driving workload did not affect comprehension. Interestingly, neither the speech used (synthesized or natural) nor the message type (navigation, E-mail, news) had a significant effect on basic driving performance measured by the standard deviations of lateral lane position and steering wheel angle.
Finding bugs in your ear: Clinical imaging of middle-ear infections and biofilms using OCT

Handheld OCT scanners have been developed for screening and characterizing middle-ear infections that are highly prevalent in the pediatric population. OCT enables non-invasive identification of bacterial biofilms that will impact clinical treatment of this disease.
Enabling Primitives for Compiling Parallel Languages

This paper presents three novel language implementation primitives—lazy threads, stacklets, and synchronizers—and shows how they combine to provide a parallel call at nearly the efficiency of a sequential call. The central idea is to transform parallel calls into parallel-ready sequential calls. Excess parallelism degrades into sequential calls with the attendant efficient stack management and direct transfer of control and data, unless a call truly needs to execute in parallel, in which case it gets its own thread of control. We show how these techniques can be applied to distribute work efficiently on multiprocessors.
Strings in Critical Dimensions

Some aspects of strings in critical dimensions are noted. In particular aspects of strings in d=1 are discussed for bosonic and superstrings.
Synthesis of 3-Ethoxy-2-Oxo-3-Phenyl-1,2-Oxaphosphorinane-3,5-Diene

Abstract In view of the limited number of examples of 2-oxo-l,2-oxaphosphorinane3,5diene derivatives1,2, we investigated the preparation of the title compound and derivatives of the same. Of additional interest were the spectroscopic propertits of this class of compounds, their stability, and the outcome of their reaction with nucleophilts. Prior work in our laboratory on the synthesis of simple phostones and their derivatives3, led us to use these as starting mataials. The presence of the phenyl substituent in la, (cis and trans isomers) permitted facile introduction of a bromo group through free radical bromination with NBS/AIBN to give 2a,b in 79% overall yield. The individual isomers of 2 were separated; tentative stereochemical assignments were made using NMR spectroscopy. Treatmnt of 2 with LiCl/DMF gave 3; the trans isomer (phenyl and OEt trans) 2b reacted much faster than the cis isomer. Treatmnt of 3 with NBS/AIBN gave 4a,b and 5 which were separated by flash chromatography. Dehydrobromination of...
Quantization of the hydrodynamic modes in superfluid 4 He with a free surface

Quantization of the hydrodynamic modes in superfluid $sup 4$He with a free surface is carried out. A complete and orthonormal set of eigenfunctions for both ripplons and surface-reflected phonons is constructed. Applications of the formalism to the calculation of the thermal energy density near the surface, the temperature-dependent part of the surface tension, and the rate at which power is absorbed by the surface from an incident phonon beam are given. (auth)
Lactose particle engineering: Influence of ultrasound and anti-solvent on crystal habit and particle size

Abstract This study focuses on ultrasound-assisted anti-solvent crystallization of lactose, expanding on previous studies and presenting, for the first time, the results of large scale implementation of sonocrystallization for lactose. The results further clarify the interplay between solution chemistry – namely the role of β-lactose – and crystallization, representing a step forward in the fine tuning of lactose properties for pharmaceutical manufacturing applications. Batches manufactured at laboratory and pilot scales were extensively characterised, including an approach for the quantification of β-lactose in α-lactose based on powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), which is described here.
ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Non-Spine Bone Metastases

Bone metastases are a common clinical problem, affecting many types of cancer patients. The presence of tumor in bone can cause significant morbidity including pain, neurological dysfunction, hypercalcemia, and pathological fracture leading to functional loss. The optimal treatment of a patient with bone metastases depends on many factors, including evaluation of the patient's goals of care, performance status, mechanical stability of the affected bone, life expectancy, and overall extent of disease. Treatment options may include radiotherapy, systemic therapies, surgical stabilization, medical pain management, and radiopharmaceuticals. Ideal management of bone metastases requires a coordinated multidisciplinary approach among diagnostic radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, orthopedic surgeons, pain specialists, physiatrists, and palliative care specialists. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria(®) are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed every 3 years by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guidelines development and review include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer-reviewed journals and the application of a well-established consensus methodology (modified Delphi) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures by the panel. In those instances where evidence is lacking or not definitive, expert opinion may be used to recommend imaging or treatment.
Influence of Reserpine and βTM 10 on Digitalis-Induced Ventricular Arrhythmia

After catecholamine depletion by reserpine, the capacity of the digitalis materials to induce ventricular arrhythmia is diminished. In papillary muscles from cats pretreated with reserpine, the incidence of ouabain-induced extra beats is reduced. The dose of ac. stroph. necessary to induce ventricular arrhythmia in combination with vagal stimulation is increased by reserpine pretreatment. Threshold doses comparable to those in cats not pretreated with reserpine produced arrhythmia after the catecholamine stores were repleted with norepinephrine or isoproterenol. In dogs with A-V block, βTM 10, an agent which prevents the release of catecholamines, markedly reduces the response of the ventricular pacemaker to ac. stroph. Since the arrhythmias induced by large doses of ac. stroph. are not affected by reserpine pretreatment, it is concluded that while catecholamine release is the primary mechanism involved in the arrhythmia produced by small doses, another mechanism also plays a role in this action after larger doses. Only in the dose of 10 mg/kg did it appear that catecholamine depletion did not account entirely for the action of reserpine. The ac. stroph. threshold dose was not increased to the same degree as with the smaller doses of reserpine, and the incidence of ventricular fibrillation induced by the large dose of ac. stroph was reduced. Hypotension produced by reserpine and βTM 10 did not seem to be an important factor in depression of the responsiveness of the ventricular pacemaker to ac. stroph. While the incidence of ouabain-induced extra beats was reduced by reserpine pretreatment, the action of ouabain to increase the tension developed by isolated papillary muscles was not affected.
The Limits of Porous Materials in the Topology Optimization of Stokes Flows

We consider a problem concerning the distribution of a solid material in a given bounded control volume with the goal to minimize the potential power of the Stokes flow with given velocities at the boundary through the material-free part of the domain. We also study the relaxed problem of the optimal distribution of the porous material with a spatially varying Darcy permeability tensor, where the governing equations are known as the Darcy-Stokes, or Brinkman, equations. We show that the introduction of the requirement of zero power dissipation due to the flow through the porous material into the relaxed problem results in it becoming a well-posed mathematical problem, which admits optimal solutions that have extreme permeability properties (i.e., assume only zero or infinite permeability); thus, they are also optimal in the original (non-relaxed) problem. Two numerical techniques are presented for the solution of the constrained problem. One is based on a sequence of optimal Brinkman flows with increasing viscosities, from the mathematical point of view nothing but the exterior penalty approach applied to the problem. Another technique is more special, and is based on the "sizing" approximation of the problem using a mix of two different porous materials with high and low permeabilities, respectively. This paper thus complements the study of Borrvall and Petersson (Internat. J. Numer. Methods Fluids, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 77-107, 2003), where only sizing optimization problems are treated.
Experimental demonstration of coherent OCDMA using spectral line pairing and heterodyne detection

We experimentally demonstrate coherent spectral phase encoded optical code-division multiple access that fully suppresses multiple access interference and speckle noise for the first time without the need for fast nonlinear time gating.
Seismotectonics of the Amenthes Rupes thrust fault population, Mars

[1] Thrust faults within the Amenthes Rupes population in eastern Mars accommodated contractional strains of ∼0.06% with total cumulative moment (energy) release of ∼2 × 1024 MJ during Late Noachian time. “Small” faults, that scale three-dimensionally, accommodate only 12–17% of the strain and 6–9% of the moment release, indicating that inventories of Martian faults need not be complete down to the smallest lengths for meaningful estimates of strain and moment to be obtained. Frictional stability relations for Martian lithosphere suggest that most (83%) of the largest fault, Amenthes Rupes, was seismogenic during displacement accumulation, with smaller faults being progressively less seismogenic as shallower depths are penetrated with decreasing fault lengths. Given plausible displacement rates from terrestrial intraplate thrust faults of ∼1–0.01 mm yr−1, the Amenthes fault population may have taken as little as 1.5 m.y. to grow into its present configuration, corresponding to slow homogeneous strain rates of 10−17 s−1, or less, that are comparable to those of terrestrial plate interiors.
Scalable Affiliation Recommendation using Auxiliary Networks

Social network analysis has attracted increasing attention in recent years. In many social networks, besides friendship links among users, the phenomenon of users associating themselves with groups or communities is common. Thus, two networks exist simultaneously: the friendship network among users, and the affiliation network between users and groups. In this article, we tackle the affiliation recommendation problem, where the task is to predict or suggest new affiliations between users and communities, given the current state of the friendship and affiliation networks. More generally, affiliations need not be community affiliations---they can be a user’s taste, so affiliation recommendation algorithms have applications beyond community recommendation. In this article, we show that information from the friendship network can indeed be fruitfully exploited in making affiliation recommendations. Using a simple way of combining these networks, we suggest two models of user-community affinity for the purpose of making affiliation recommendations: one based on graph proximity, and another using latent factors to model users and communities. We explore the affiliation recommendation algorithms suggested by these models and evaluate these algorithms on two real-world networks, Orkut and Youtube. In doing so, we motivate and propose a way of evaluating recommenders, by measuring how good the top 50 recommendations are for the average user, and demonstrate the importance of choosing the right evaluation strategy. The algorithms suggested by the graph proximity model turn out to be the most effective. We also introduce scalable versions of these algorithms, and demonstrate their effectiveness. This use of link prediction techniques for the purpose of affiliation recommendation is, to our knowledge, novel.
Physical fitness and psychological benefits of strength training in community dwelling older adults

Previous studies concerning psychological benefits of exercise among the elderly has focused predominantly on the effects of aerobic exercise. In the present study, psychological and behavioral adaptations in response to 12-weeks of strength training were examined in medically healthy but sedentary 42 older adults (mean age = 68 years). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of high and low intensity resistance training intensity on a) muscular fitness, b) psychological affect, and c) neurocognitive functioning. Subjects were randomly assigned to high intensity/low volume (EXH: 2 sets of 8 to 10 repetitions for 75 to 85% of 1 RM), low intensity/high volume (EXL: 2 sets of 14 to 16 repetitions for 55 to 65% of 1 RM), or no exercise control programs. Prior to and following the 12-week program, subjects underwent comprehensive physiological and psychological evaluations. Physiological assessment included measurements of blood pressure, heart rate, arm and leg muscle strength, body composition, and oxygen consumption (VO2max). Psychological measures included evaluations of mood, anxiety, and physical self-efficacy as well as cognitive functioning. The results of this study indicated that both high and low intensity strength programs were associated with marked improvements in physiological fitness and psychological functioning. Specifically, subjects in the strength training programs increased overall muscle strength by 38.6% and reduced percent body fat by 3.0%. Favorable psychological changes in the strength-trained subjects included improvements in positive and negative mood, trait anxiety, and perceived confidence for physical capability. The treatment effects of neurocognitive functioning were not significant. In summary, this study demonstrated that participation in 12-weeks of high or low intensity strength training can improve overall physical fitness, mood, and physical self-efficacy in older adults while cognitive functioning remains constant.
Effects of cytosine arabinoside on the cell viability and uptake of deoxypyrimidine nucleosides in 15178Y cells

Abstract Cytosine arabinoside inhibited the incorporation of 3 H-deoxythymidine into DNA. L5178Y leukemic cells prelabeled with 3 H-deoxythymidine and treated with high levels of cytosine arabinoside were also shown to lose radioactivity from the DNA at a logarithmic rate. Pretreatment of cells with high levels of cytosine arabinoside markedly increased the incorporation of 3 H-deoxycytidine into the cold acid-soluble and DNA fractions, but the treated cells could not be rescued by deoxycytidine. Cells pretreated with methotrexate incorporated less 3 H-cytosine arabinoside into the DNA and RNA and were sensitized to the acute killing effect of high levels of cytosine arabinoside. Short periods of pretreatment with methotrexate killed leukemic cells, although the cloning medium contained hypoxanthine, deoxythymidine and serine.
Primary central nervous system lymphoma: a role for adjuvant chemotherapy.

Sixteen immunocompetent patients, 10 of whom were previously reported, with primary non-Hodgkins lymphoma of the central nervous system (PCNSL) were treated and followed longitudinally by the Neurooncology Service at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). After undergoing surgery (biopsy or resection), these patients received radiation therapy (RT) with hydroxyurea (HU) followed by adjuvant chemotherapy with the combination of procarbazine, CCNU, and vincristine (PCV) as previously reported. All patients ultimately died of progressive recurrent PCNSL. Toxicity using the HU + RT followed by PCV schedule was tolerable. Median and quartile survival data (41 and 65 months, respectively) suggest efficacy for this chemotherapy schedule and further emphasizes a role for adjuvant chemotherapy in the primary treatment of PCNSL.
ARCH, GARCH, and ARMAX Models for Forecasting Pathogen Indicators and Advisories at Marine Recreational Sites

Abstract Despite the wide ranging applications of time series methodologies for stochastic processes, they have not been used for environmental economics (except climate change). To fill this gap, we introduce time series methodology for the environmental econometrics, presenting autoregressive, moving average, ARCH, GARCH, and ARMAX models. These models are applied to establish a functional relationship between pathogen indicator and meteorological and environmental variables using time series data associated with Huntington Beach, Ohio. According to ARCH, turbidity, dew point, flow, and rainfall are statistically significant variables. Other models produced roughly similar results because of the short lag order. Models confirm the lag order of one using Akaike, Schwartz, and Hannan-Quinn selection criteria, reflecting very short memory of the pathogen indicator series. However, the time series did not support GARCH variance structure. These models not only under forecasted observations at both ends of t...
End-to-end framework for fault management for open source clusters: Ranger

The scale and complexity of both hardware and software on large open source software systems such as Ranger make occurrence of faults and failures inevitable. What is not inevitable is that they should be allowed to go undetected, nor that diagnosis and recovery from failures should continue to be largely manual and effort intensive. This paper presents a framework for end-to-end fault management for open source clusters which is being developed on Ranger, but which targets general open source software based clusters. The elements of the framework are: a rationalized system logging stack for Linux, low overhead log and status monitoring, and a multilevel suite of diagnostic analyses. This paper describes this framework, presents the accomplishments to date, the results which have been obtained with the elements of the framework which are in place, and the plans for future development including a solicitation for collaboration on the project.
Crystallization of a basic protein (lysozyme) from kidneys of tumour-bearing rats (Jensen sarcoma).

Crystallization of a Basic Protein (Lysozyme) from Kidneys of Tumour-Bearing Rats (Jensen Sarcoma)
Clinical significance of inflammatory markers

Inflammatory markers play a key role in the evaluation of patients with gastrointestinal symptoms. For patients presenting with nonspecific symptoms of abdominal pain and diarrhea, distinguishing inflammatory bowel disease from other disorders can be difficult, and invasive diagnostic procedures may be required. Inflammatory markers can be useful to differentiate patients who may require further workup from those who do not. Several serum, fecal, and other markers are reviewed for their use in clinical practice. Although no single ideal marker exists, a few show promise in diagnosing inflammatory disease, monitoring disease activity, and predicting relapse.
Rapid evolution of two discrete regions of the caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus envelope surface glycoprotein during persistent infection.

Abstract Five major regions of sequence diversity between strains (V1–V5) have been described in the caprine arthritis-encephalitis lentivirus (CAEV) envelope surface unit glycoprotein (SU). To determine which of these variable regions is important in persistent infection in vivo, we evaluated SU sequence diversity in five neutralization variants from two goats and proviral DNA from five additional goats infected with CAEV-63 for up to 7 years. Overall amino acid sequence divergence in the SU encoded by provirus and neutralization variants compared to parental CAEV-63 ranged from 1.1 to 4%. However, most of the amino acid substitutions and all of the deletions and insertions were present in two discrete regions designated HV1 and HV2. The HV2 region was variable in all neutralization variants and provirus sequences from most animals. This region overlapped the V4 domain of CAEV SU and the neutralization domain of the closely related ovine maedi-visna lentivirus. HV1 was located in a region of SU strictly conserved in all small ruminant lentivirus strains except CAEV-63. This region only varied in a subset of neutralization variants and proviruses, all derived from goats with arthritis. In contrast, sequences in the V1, V2, V3, and V5 regions were stable in neutralization variants and proviruses from infected goats, indicating that sequence diversity between strains in these regions is not due to selection of variants in persistently infected animals. Our results define two discrete regions of CAEV SU that undergo rapid sequence variation in persistently infected goats which may have important roles in virus–host interactions.
Finding η Car Analogs in Nearby Galaxies Using Spitzer. II. Identification of An Emerging Class of Extragalactic Self-Obscured Stars

Understanding the late-stage evolution of the most massive stars such as ??Carinae is challenging because no true analogs of ??Car have been clearly identified in the Milky Way or other galaxies. In Khan et al., we utilized Spitzer IRAC images of 7 nearby ( 4?Mpc) galaxies to search for such analogs, and found 34 candidates with flat or red mid-IR spectral energy distributions. Here, in Paper?II, we present our characterization of these candidates using multi-wavelength data from the optical through the far-IR. Our search detected no true analogs of ??Car, which implies an eruption rate that is a fraction 0.01 F 0.19 of the core-collapse supernova (ccSN) rate. This is roughly consistent with each M ZAMS 70 M ? star undergoing one or two outbursts in its lifetime. However, we do identify a significant population of 18 lower luminosity (log (L/L ?) 5.5-6.0) dusty stars. Stars enter this phase at a rate that is a fraction 0.09 F 0.55 of the ccSN rate, and this is consistent with all 25 < M ZAMS < 60 M ? stars undergoing an obscured phase at most lasting a few thousand years once or twice. These phases constitute a negligible fraction of post-main-sequence lifetimes of massive stars, which implies that these events are likely to be associated with special periods in the evolution of the stars. The mass of the obscuring material is of order ~M ?, and we simply do not find enough heavily obscured stars for theses phases to represent more than a modest fraction (~10% not ~50%) of the total mass lost by these stars. In the long term, the sources that we identified will be prime candidates for detailed physical analysis with the James Webb Space Telescope.
Antbirds parasitize foraging army ants

In the tropical forests of Central and South America, army ants of the Ecitonini tribe, and the numerous animals that follow them through the understory, share a complex relationship that has far-reaching effects on population dynamics and community structure. Although considerable study has been made of various participants in this relationship, no research has explicitly examined the nature of the interaction between the ants and the most important group of followers, the ant-following birds. Here we show, through use of exclusion experiments, that ant-following birds are parasites on Eciton burchellii, significantly reducing the ants' success rate in capturing prey. This has important implications for our interpretation of ant behaviors during swarm-raiding, competitive interactions among the ant-following birds, and possibly also the relative abundance of those social hymenopterans that are typically preyed upon by army ants.