cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enzymatic conversion of heme to bilirubin in normal and starved fetuses and newborn rats.

Extract: Heme oxygenase (HO), the enzyme system responsible for the conversion of heme to bilirubin, has an average activity of 0.143 ± 0.036 m/anoles bilirubin/10 mg protein/min in fetal rat liver between 15 and 21 days of gestation, compared with 0.070 ± 0.020 in mature liver. Heme oxygenase activity increases rapidly during the first postnatal day (0.237 ± 0.078) and reaches 4 times adult rates at 1 week of age. Thereafter, activity declines to basal adult rates at weaning. Splenic HO activity is relatively low during the fetal and immediate postnatal period compared with its activity in mature animals (0.206 versus 0.790), and rises to nearly 11 times the hepatic activity in mature animals. Fasting of pregnant rats for 3 days before delivery caused a 20% average increase in hepatic HO of fetuses and newborns. In newborn rats fasted for 3 hr and 6 hr, HO activity increased two- and threefold, respectively, compared with fed controls. Refeeding after 3 hr resulted in a decline to basal values at 6 hr of age. Splenic activity was not affected by fasting or refeeding. These results show that the capacity of the liver for bilirubin production is greater in fetuses compared with adults, and increases further at birth. Starvation in mother or offspring stimulates the hepatic enzymic process for conversion of heme to bilirubin. Speculation: These studies should provide a basis for investigating nutritional and hormonal factors which influence the conversion of heme to bilirubin in fetuses and newborns.
Matched Cohort Analysis of Outcomes of Definitive Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Patients

Purpose To compare the biochemical outcome and toxicity scores of men with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and prostate cancer with a matched control population with negative or unknown HIV status when treated with external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT). Methods and Materials A single-institution database of men with prostate cancer treated with EBRT from 1999 to 2009 was reviewed. Thirteen men with HIV were identified and matched to 2 control patients according to age, race, T stage, prostate-specific antigen level, Gleason score, RT dose, intensity-modulated RT vs. three-dimensional conformal RT, and whole-pelvis vs. prostate-only RT, for a total of 39 cases. The median follow-up time was 39 months (range, 3–110 months). Results The 4-year biochemical failure (BF)-free survival rate was 87% in the HIV-positive group vs. 89% in the controls ( p = 0.94). Pre- and post-RT viral loads were found to be predictive of BF ( p = 0.04 and p = 0.04, respectively). No men with HIV died, whereas 2 in the control group died of causes unrelated to prostate cancer. Acute and chronic genitourinary and gastrointestinal toxicity were less in the HIV-positive patients than in controls ( p p p = 0.003, and p 3 . Conclusions Our findings suggest that men with HIV treated with EBRT have a similar risk of BF; however, high viral loads may contribute to an increased risk. This analysis supports that HIV-positive men with prostate cancer can be treated with definitive EBRT with similar disease control and toxicity outcomes as in the general population.
Molecular analysis of mutagenesis by high LET radiation.

Abstract Mutation induction by high linear energy transfer [LET] alpha particles and gamma-rays was scored in the human hamster hybrid [AL] cells. Southern blotting technique was used to analyse the molecular changes in the DNA from both the HGPRT− and S1− mutants. Dose dependent mutagenesis in the AL cells irradiated with the charged particles was higher by almost 20 fold at the S1 than the corresponding HGPRT locus. Southern analysis of the mutants induced by the high LET particles showed mostly multilocus deletion at both the HGPRT and S1 genes.
Fruit and Vegetable Availability and Selection: Federal Food Package Revisions, 2009

Background With nearly 49,000 authorized retailers nationwide, a policy change that added fruits and vegetables (FV) to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food packages in 2009 had the potential to expand neighborhood FV availability. Purpose This study examined changes in availability and selection of commonly consumed and culturally specific FV at authorized retailers (WIC vendors) before and after implementation of the revised WIC food packages. Methods Quasi-experimental, one-group design with two pre-policy observations and one post-policy observation. Trained observers assessed a list of fresh, frozen, and canned FV at each vendor in seven northern Illinois counties. Eight indices of FV availability and selection were derived. Multiple regression estimated relationships. Data were collected in 2008–2010 and analyzed in 2011. Results Overall, availability and selection of commonly consumed fresh FV and availability of African-American culturally specific fresh FV improved after implementation of the new policy. Modest improvements in the overall availability of canned low-sodium vegetables and frozen FV were observed. Changes differed by vendor type (large vendor, small vendor, and pharmacy). Changes in availability or selection did not differ by neighborhood characteristics (population density, median household income, racial/ethnic composition). Conclusions Expansion of WIC foods was associated with small positive externalities on the food environment. Larger subsidies to create more demand and more-substantial stocking requirements for retailers may yield significantly larger improvements and thus warrant further investigation. Approaches targeting rural, low-income, and racial/ethnic minority neighborhoods also may be needed.
Mars Radiation Risk Assessment and Shielding Design for Long-Term Exposure to Ionizing Space Radiation

NASA is now focused on the agency's vision for space exploration encompassing a broad range of human and robotic missions including missions to Moon, Mars and beyond. As a result, there is a focus on long duration space missions. NASA is committed to the safety of the missions and the crew, and there is an overwhelming emphasis on the reliability issues for space missions and the habitat. The cost-effective design of the spacecraft demands a very stringent requirement on the optimization process. Exposure from the hazards of severe space radiation in deep space and/or long duration missions is a critical design constraint and a potential 'show stopper.' Thus, protection from the hazards of severe space radiation is of paramount importance to the agency's vision. It is envisioned to have long duration human presence on the Moon for deep space exploration. The exposures from ionizing radiation - galactic cosmic radiation and solar particle events - and optimized shield design for a swing-by and a long duration Mars mission have been investigated. It is found that the technology of today is inadequate for safe human missions to Mars, and revolutionary technologies need to be developed for long duration and/or deep space missions. The study will provide a guideline for radiation exposure and protection for long duration missions and career astronauts and their safety.
Engineering Statistical Behaviors for Attacking and Defending Covert Channels

This paper develops techniques for attacking and defending behavioral anomaly detection methods commonly used in network traffic analysis and covert channels. The main new result is our demonstration of how to use a behavior's or process' k-order statistics to build a stochastic process that has the same k-order stationary statistics but possesses different, deliberately designed, (k+1) -order statistics if desired. Such a model realizes a “complexification” of the process or behavior which a defender can use to monitor whether an attacker is shaping the behavior. We also describe a source coding technique that respects the k -order statistics, including entropy which is a first order statistic for example, of a process while encoding information covertly, and we show how to achieve optimizing information rates. Although the main results and examples are stated in terms of behavioral anomaly detection for covert channels, the techniques are more generally applicable to behavioral anomaly analysis. One fundamental consequence of these results is that certain types of behavioral anomaly detection techniques come down to an arms race in the sense that the advantage goes to the party that has more computing resources applied to the problem.
Analysis of Nonlinear Systems via Bernstein Expansions

This paper presents an analytical approach for the stability and bifurcation analyses of nonlinear dynamic systems that have polynomial and trigonometric nonlinearities. The method ensures that all equilibrium points in a bounded region of the state space are found and yields arbitrarily tight bounds to the parameter points where the system exhibits local bifurcations. The solution method requires calculating and sequentially rening polynomial bounds of the trigonometric nonlinearities using Taylor expansions and Bernstein polynomials. The bounds supporting the resulting analyses, which are exempt from approximation and numerical error, can be made arbitrarily tight with additional computational eort. Due to the exponential complexity of the Bernstein expansion, the methodology is applicable to systems with a moderate number of states and bifurcating parameters.
Effects of cadmium on Drosophila: toxicity, proteins, and transfer RNAs.

Abstract An animal model with well-defined genetic and biochemical characteristics is needed for a detailed understanding of the mechanism of toxicity by metal ions. Drosophila melanogaster was used in the present study to demonstrate a number of responses of Cd2+, including lethality, age-related changes in resistance, alterations of the normal developmental changes in proteins, and alterations in specific transfer RNAs. Genotype-specific differences in resistance to Cd2+ were found: the ν; bw strain was 5–10 times more resistant than su(s)2ν; bw for developmental exposure; upon treatment of the young adults the differences were in the same direction, but the sensitivities differed by only two- to three-fold. The adult fly became more sensitive to Cd2+ as it aged through 2 weeks, but changed little thereafter. The electrophoretic patterns of proteins of adult flies underwent changes during aging from 1 to 8 days; these changes were markedly altered by 0.55 m m CdCl2 but not by 0.74 m m ZnCl2 in the medium on which the flies were maintained. The appearance of queuosine-containing tRNA was stimulated by CdCl2 (0.05–0.8 m m ) in the growth medium, but not by ZnCl2 (0.07–1.1 m m ). Further studies involving D. melanogaster should be useful in defining specific interactions of toxic metal ions with macromolecules to enhance the understanding of the toxic effects of these and similar pollutants.
Establishing accessibility for e‐journals: a suggested approach

Libraries in the USA are required by law to make library programs and services accessible to people with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (1998) mandate that the responsibility for accessibility extends to the electronic environment. Increasingly, librarians who purchase electronic journals are becoming aware of the urgent need to consider accessibility issues, but many are uncertain about how to actually determine whether a product is accessible, and what to do if it is not. This study examines 11 major electronic research journal services for basic accessibility. Findings reflect that awareness of accessibility issues is low among electronic research journal service providers, with some notable exceptions. A strategy for increasing awareness of accessibility issues among e‐journal providers is offered.
Reversal of resistance in multidrug resistance protein (MRP1)-overexpressing cells by LY329146

The benzothiophene LY329146 reverses the drug resistance phenotype in multidrug resistance protein (MRP1)-overexpressing cells when dosed in combination with MRP1-associated oncolytics doxorubicin and vincristine. Additionally, LY329146 inhibited MRP1-mediated uptake of the MRP1 substrate LTC4 into membrane vesicles prepared from MRP1-overexpressing cells.
Degradation and Mobility of Sulfometuron-methyl (Oust Herbicide) in Field Soil

The degradation and mobility of sulfometuron-methyl and potential degradates were evaluated under actual field conditions in the United States following application of Oust herbicide to bare ground at the maximum labeled rate. Sulfometuron-methyl degraded rapidly at the four test sites; calculated half-life (t1/2) values ranged from 12 to 25 days. Sulfometuron-methyl residues were below the limit of quantitation (10 ppb) beyond 90 days after treatment (DAT) at all test sites. The highest degradate concentration present at the end of the study (359 DAT) was 40 ppb (the herbicidally inactive 2-amino-4,6-dimethylpyrimidine). Sulfometuron-methyl and its degradates were immobile under field conditions. Keywords: Sulfometuron-methyl; degradation; mobility; half-life; soil
Comparison of leucine, serine and glycine transport across the ovine placenta.

Abstract To estimate the transport rate of maternal glycine across the placenta [1- 13 C]glycine and L-[1- 13 ]serine were infused intravenously in pregnant sheep using both continuous and bolus infusions. Each tracer was infused together with L-[1- 13 C]leucine, to enable a comparison with the placental transport of an essential amino acid. At steady state, fetal plasma leucine enrichment was 40 per cent of maternal enrichment, indicating that approximately 60 per cent of the entry rate of leucine into fetal plasma is derived from protein breakdown in the placenta and fetus. Fetal plasma glycine enrichment was 11 per cent of maternal and there was no detectable fetal serine enrichment. The direct flux of maternal leucine into the fetal circulation was approximately 3.0 (bolus experiments) to 3.6 (continuous infusion experiments) pmol/min (kg fetus) and greater than the estimated 1.4 μmol/min (kg fetus) direct flux of maternal glycine, despite the fact that the net umbilical uptake of glycine exceeds that of leucine. This supports the conclusion that placental glycine production is a quantitatively important contribution to fetal glycine uptake via the umbilical circulation. The fetal glycine supply from the placenta is provided by a relatively small direct maternal glycine transplacental flux and a larger contribution derived from serine utilization within the placenta for glycine production.
Motion control of a hydraulic free-piston engine

Free-piston engine (FPE), as an alternative of the conventional internal combustion engine, has a high potential in terms of energy saving given its wide range of potential applications and high efficiency. One of the technical barriers that prevents the wide spread of this technology is the lack of precise piston motion control. This paper presents a novel strategy on the motion control of a hydraulic FPE. A robust repetitive controller is designed and implemented to form a virtual crankshaft that would provide a precise and stable engine operation. Based on the controller, a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environment that integrates the combustion chamber dynamics with the hydraulic system is developed to further validate the proposed control design. The experimental data of engine motoring tests with virtual crankshaft control demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Imidazole-based nickel(II) and cobalt(II) coordination complexes for potential use as models for histidine containing metalloproteins

Abstract It has been established that small molecule model complexes have been useful in studying more complex biological systems of metalloproteins. Because many metalloproteins have active sites that contain multiple histidine residues bound to a metal center, a series of imidazole-containing scorpionate ligands and the associated Co and Ni complexes have been developed to investigate the bonding parameters of histidine containing active sites. The tris(2-imidazolyl) carbinol (2-TIC, 6) and tris[2-(N-methylimidazolyl)] carbinol (2-MeTIC, 7) complexes of Ni2+ and Co2+, namely [Co(2-MeTIC)2]Cl2 (8), [Co(2-MeTIC)2](NO3)2 (9), [Ni(2-MeTIC)2]Cl2 (10), [Ni(2-MeTIC)2](NO3)2 (11), [Co(2-TIC)2](NO3)2 (12), and [Ni(2-TIC)2](NO3)2 (13), have been prepared from the reaction of the appropriate ligand and appropriate metal salt in polar solvent. These complexes have been characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, spectroscopic techniques, and magnetic susceptibility. In each solid-state structure the metal center in the cation coordinates to three N atoms from two ligands and adopts a pseudo-octahedral coordination geometry. The X-ray characterization of tris[2-(N-methylimidazolyl)] carbinol is also reported.
Evolutionary dynamics on degree-heterogeneous graphs.

The evolution of two species with different fitness is investigated on degree-heterogeneous graphs. The population evolves either by one individual dying and being replaced by the offspring of a random neighbor (voter model dynamics) or by an individual giving birth to an offspring that takes over a random neighbor node (invasion process dynamics). The fixation probability for one species to take over a population of $N$ individuals depends crucially on the dynamics and on the local environment. Starting with a single fitter mutant at a node of degree $k$, the fixation probability is proportional to $k$ for voter model dynamics and to $1/k$ for invasion process dynamics.
Determination of the Conformation and Isomeric Composition of Lignin Model Quinone Methides By NMR

Abstract Proton and 13C NMR of representative guaiacyl and syringyl β-aryl ether quinone methides have shown that guaiacyl quinone methides, generated from the corresponding benzyl bromides, exist as isomeric pairs in approximately a 70:30 ratio, the major isomer having the 3-methoxyl group syn with respect to the side chain. The ring protons at the 2- and 6-positions in the syn-and the anti-isomera respectively are markedly deshielded by 3teric compression effects; concomitant shielding of these ring carbons is observed in the C-13 NMR. Nuclear Overhauser enhancement experiments define the major solution conformation of these species, the conformation being consistent with the observed predominance of threo-products resulting from nucleophilic addition reactions.
VariantClassifier: A hierarchical variant classifier for annotated genomes.

Background High-throughput DNA sequencing has produced a large number of closed and well annotated genomes. As the focus from whole genome sequencing and assembly moves towards resequencing, variant data is becoming more accessible and large quantities of polymorphisms are being detected. An easy-to-use tool for quickly assessing the potential importance of these discovered variants becomes ever important.
Evolutionary Meaning of Non-Synchronous Medusa Release and Spawning in the Most Advanced Bivalve-Inhabiting Hydrozoan, Eugymnanthea japonica

Circadial spawning times of medusa of the bivalve-inhabiting hydrozoans Eugymnanthea japonica Kubota and Eutima japonica Uchida are confirmed to be morning (possibly sunrise) for the former species and night for the latter. Eugymnanthea, with small, short-lived, univoltine medusae, seems to have evolved from a form similar to Eutima japonica, with larger, longer-lived, multivoltine medusae; the morning spawning of medusae in Eugymnanthea may therefore be a newly evolved trait. Medusa release from polyps and spawning of medusae are not synchronous in Eugymnanthea japonica. This non-synchrony may represent an evolutionarily transitional state leading to the most advanced state, synchrony of these two reproductive events, as in certain other ephemeral hydrozoan medusae.
Genetics of adaptive radiation in Hawaiian species of Tetramolopium (Asteraceae). III. Evolutionary genetics of sex expression

Despite numerous studies of speciation on oceanic islands, few insights exist on the genetic changes involved in the origin and diversification of island taxa. Here we report a genetic analysis of the evolutionary change in sex expression in Hawaiian Tetramolopium. The most diverse clade in the genus is characterized by a monoecious breeding system. The breeding system resulted from a change in sex expression in disc florets from the ancestral hermaphroditic condition to the derived male state. Analysis of an F2 population from a cross between the two forms of sex expression indicates two regions of the Tetramolopium linkage map are associated with the loss of female function in disc florets. Quantitative trait locus mapping of the two linkage groups confirms that two loci control 56% of the phenotypic variation of the trait in the F2 population. Additive and dominance effects are apparent but no statistical evidence of epistasis was found. Several related reproductive traits also have few genetic associations on the linkage map, but are generally distinct from the control of sex expression. Although modifier loci are likely to be involved, the apparent simple genetic change underlying sex expression parallels a major evolutionary diversification in Hawaiian Tetramolopium and may have initiated the divergence of this novel clade.
Amylase in the Saliva and in the Gastric Aspirates of Premature Infants: Its Potential Role in Glucose Polymer Hydrolysis

Amylase activity was found in saliva from 13 infants, 26-42 wk corrected gestational age. The levels of salivary amylase activity increased with advancing age. In 10 infants, 31-38 wk corrected gestational age (estimated gestational age in wk plus age in wk after birth), gastric aspirates collected before a feeding and sequentially at 30-min intervals after two consecutive feedings were analyzed for amylase activity and pH. Two different postprandial patterns were obtained. For six of the 10 infants, both the pH and amylase activities of their gastric aspirates showed a distinct maxima at about 60 min after a feeding and a minima at 180 min just before the second feeding. In the remaining four infants, the pHs of their gastric aspirates remained relatively high (5.0-6.0) for the entire postprandial period. In these infants, there was a persistently high level of the amylase activity. In all 10 infants, amylase activity was found in their gastric aspirate samples when the pH was above 3.0. Comparison of the amylase in the gastric aspirate with purified pancreatic and salivary amylases by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that the amylase in the gastric aspirate has an electrophoretic mobility similar to that of salivary amylase, which suggests a salivary origin. This study supports the possibility that salivary amylase could enter the stomach and retain a significant amount of its activity in premature infants.
EFFECT OF DOLASTATIN 10 ON HUMAN NON-HODGKIN'S LYMPHOMA CELL LINES

It is crucial to incorporate new and more potent antineoplastic agents in treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma since standard chemotherapy fails to cause a significant increase in the survival rate. A potential chemotherapeutic agent is dolastatin 10; hence, the objective of our study is to investigate the effect of the antiproliferative agent dolastatin 10 on different grades of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cell lines. All cell lines exposed to dolastatin 10 initiated an apoptosis process. Alteration of oncogenes and their product may direct the entry of the cells into apoptosis, among these oncogenes are bcl-2 and c-myc. All cell lines tested expressed c-myc and bcl-2 proteins. However, 24 h after exposing the cell lines to 1 ng/ml dolastatin 10, bcl-2 expression was abolished but there was no significant change in c-myc protein expression. The contradictory roles of c-myc in cell proliferation and death require that other gene(s) products regiment the outcomes of c-myc activity on a cell. A possible candidate for such a modifying gene is bcl-2, whose product prolongs cell survival and blocks apoptosis. Given the above, dolastatin 10 induction of cell arrest is the initiating signal to downregulate the antiapoptotic bcl-2 and reactivate the apoptotic pathway. The reductions in bcl-2 may stabilize the c-myc proliferative action and induce apoptosis.
Sharp bounds of the inverse matrices resulted from five-point stencil in solving Poisson equations

Abstract In this paper, we derive the least upper bound (in the infinity norm) and the greatest lower bound of a class of the inverse matrices resulted from the five-point stencil in solving the Poisson equations on the unit square. The obtained bounds are sharp and provide more accurate convergence estimation than the current one in literature. Our approach is based on a matrix theoretic setting which can capture the characteristics of this type of matrices. As an application, we apply the result to the unbiased random walk in a unit square with an absorbing boundary and give the least upper bound of the mean first passage time for an inside particle to reach the boundary.
State Autonomy or Class Domination: Approaches to Administrative Politics in Wilhelmine Germany

Despite increased interest in the political role of the state, attention is currently shifting away from the state's contribution to political development in Wilhelmine Germany. There are, however, a number of unresolved questions concerning the Wilhelmine state bureaucracy's role in German politics that make the abandonment of political analyses of the state premature. Earlier approaches to the Wilhelmine administration have argued that it was either insulated from society or subordinate to dominant social classes. Such monolithic analyses are unable to account for bureaucratic commitments to competing, substantive interests and goals as well as for administrative conflict over such commitments. This problem can be avoided through hypotheses that explain bureaucratic political behavior in terms of class, administrative structure, or ideology. These hypotheses may be of general use for future research on administrative politics in other societies as well as in Wilhelmine Germany.
Depression Risk among Mothers of Young Children: The Role of Employment Preferences, Labor Force Status and Job Quality

This study examines how desire for employment, employment status, and job quality associate with depressive symptoms among mothers of infants and toddlers. We use the longitudinal NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) to estimate regression models with a variety of controls including prior depression. We find that employment in high-quality versus low-quality jobs is associated with reductions in depressive symptoms, both for mothers who do and do not desire employment. Furthermore, non-employed mothers have elevated depression levels only if they desire employment. Our results demonstrate that neither employment nor non-employment is best for all mothers of young children; rather mental health depends on mothers’ employment preferences and, when they do work for pay, job quality.
Mechanisms of the Northward Movement of Submonthly Scale Vortices over the Bay of Bengal during the Boreal Summer

Abstract Mechanisms of the northward movement of submonthly scale vortices over the Bay of Bengal during the boreal summer (May–September) are studied with the use of a vorticity budget analysis applied to the ECMWF 40-yr Re-Analysis (ERA-40) data. To quantitatively evaluate the contribution from each term that constitutes the vorticity anomaly equation to the movement of the vortices, a vector measure, termed the forcing vector (FV), is used in the present study. Because the axis of the submonthly scale relative vorticity anomaly does not tilt meridionally below the 200-hPa level, the mechanisms of the northward movement of a composite submonthly scale vortex integrated from the surface to the 100-hPa level [the barotropic component (BTC)] are studied. The barotropic vortex moves northwestward, with northward speeds of 0.9° day−1. The meridional component of the FV (MFV), which represents the contribution to the meridional component of the movement, reveals that the primary and secondary terms that contr...
Residents' Ability to Interpret Radiology Images: Development and Improvement of an Assessment Tool

Rationale and Objectives Despite increasing radiology coverage, nonradiology residents continue to preliminarily interpret basic radiologic studies independently, yet their ability to do so accurately is not routinely assessed. Materials and Methods An online test of basic radiologic image interpretation was developed through an iterative process. Educational objectives were established, then questions and images were gathered to create an assessment. The test was administered online to first-year interns (postgraduate year [PGY] 1) from 14 different specialties, as well as a sample of third- and fourth-year radiology residents (PGY3/R2 and PGY4/R3). Results Over a 2-year period, 368 residents were assessed, including PGY1 ( n = 349), PGY3/R2 ( n = 14), and PGY4/R3 ( n = 5) residents. Overall, the test discriminated effectively between interns (average score = 66%) and advanced residents (R2 = 86%, R3 = 89%; P Conclusions Validation of an initial iteration of an assessment of basic image-interpretation skills led to revisions that improved the test. The results offer a specific test of radiologic reading skills with validation evidence for residents. More generally, results demonstrate a principled approach to test development.
Decay of the 2.34- and 2.71-MeV States of B

Proton emission from ${\mathrm{B}}^{9}$ states at 2.34 and 2.71 MeV has been investigated by populating the states in the ${\mathrm{B}}^{10}({\mathrm{He}}^{3},\ensuremath{\alpha}){\mathrm{B}}^{9}$ reaction and by measuring $\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{-}p$ coincidences with a 2-dimensional pulse-height analyzer. The 2.34-MeV ${J}^{\ensuremath{\pi}}={\frac{5}{2}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ level decays less than 0.5% by proton emission to the ground state of ${\mathrm{Be}}^{8}$, while the 2.71-MeV level decays nearly 100% by this route. The $1f$ proton reduced width of the 2.34-MeV level for the ground state of ${\mathrm{Be}}^{8}$ (in units of) $\frac{{\ensuremath{\hbar}}^{2}}{m{R}^{2}}$) is then less than ${5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ when $R$ has the value 4.35 F. The co-incidence method clearly resolves the 2.71-MeV ${J}^{\ensuremath{\pi}}={\frac{5}{2}}^{+}$ state from the 2.34-MeV state and background, its excitation and width being 2.71\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03 MeV and 0.71\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06 MeV, respectively. These figures imply a $1d$ proton reduced width of the 2.71-MeV state for the ground state of ${\mathrm{Be}}^{8}$ of about 0.7.
O2 and Vacancy Diffusion on Rutile(110): Pathways and Electronic Properties

The binding structures and diffusion pathways of molecular oxygen on a defective TiO2(110) surface are studied by means of a recently developed first-principles string molecular dynamics approach. A variety of molecular and dissociated O2 adsorption states are identified and the kinetics of their interconversion is analyzed. These results, as well as calculations of the electronic properties and of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images, are used to discuss recent experimental observations of the interactions between surface oxygen vacancies and the adsorbed oxygen molecule.
Safety of a DVT chemoprophylaxis protocol following traumatic brain injury: a single center quality improvement initiative.

Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a complication that affects approximately 30 % of moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients when pharmacologic prophylaxis is not used. Following TBI, specifically in the case of contusions, the safety and efficacy of pharmacologic thromboembolism prophylaxis (PTP) has been studied only in small sample sizes. In this study, we attempt to assess the safety and efficacy of a PTP protocol for TBI patients, as a quality improvement (QI) initiative, in the neuroscience intensive care unit (NSICU).
Reproductive age modulates the impact of focal ischemia on the forebrain as well as the effects of estrogen treatment in female rats.

While human observational studies and animal studies report a neuroprotective role for estrogen therapy in stroke, the multicenter placebo-controlled Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study concluded that hormone therapy increased the risk for stroke in postmenopausal women. The present study therefore tested the hypothesis that estrogen replacement would increase the severity of a stroke-like injury in females when this replacement occurs after a prolonged hypoestrogenic period, such as the menopause or reproductive senescence, but not when given to females that were normally cycling immediately prior to the hormone replacement. Two groups of female rats were used: multiparous females with normal but lengthened estrus cycles (mature adults), and older multiparous females currently in a persistent acyclic state (reproductive senescent). Animals were either used intact, or were bilaterally ovariectomized and immediately replaced with a 17β-estradiol pellet or control pellet. Animals were subject to a forelimb placing test (a test for sensorimotor deficit) and thereafter to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) by stereotaxic injection of the vasoconstrictive peptide endothelin-1, adjacent to the MCA. One week after stroke, behavioral tests were performed again. Cortical and striatal infarct volume, measured from brain slices, was significantly greater in intact reproductive senescent females as compared to intact mature adults. Furthermore, estrogen treatment to ovariectomized mature adult females significantly reduced the cortical infarct volume. Paradoxically, estrogen treatment to ovariectomized reproductive senescent females significantly increased cortical and striatal infarct volumes as compared to control pellet replaced senescent females. Significant post-stroke behavioral deficit was observed in all groups on the side contralateral to the lesion, while senescent females also exhibited deficits on the ipsilateral side, in the cross-midline forelimb placement test. Using an animal model that approximates the natural ovarian aging process, these findings strongly support the hypothesis that the effectiveness of estrogen therapy in protecting brain health may depend critically on the time of initiation with respect to a female's reproductive status.
Ion-paired drug diffusion through polymer membranes

Abstract Studies of ion pair formation and permeation in non-aqueous media through model synthetic membranes were performed with the aim of lipophilization of ionic drugs for transport across hydrophobic barriers. Ion pair formation was characterized utilizing conductivity, NMR and electromotive force. The permeation experiments were performed using 3 model hydrophobic membranes, dense hydrophobic, porous hydrophobic and hydrophobic-hydrophilic balanced membranes. It was found that the ion-paired drugs attained electrical neutrality and lipophilic characteristics and consequently, had enhanced permeation through hydrophobic membranes. Both partition and pore mechanisms contributed to ion pair diffusion.
Losing confidence in medicine in an era of medical expansion

Has the expansion of the medical field inspired more or less confidence in medicine among the American public? This study investigates how confidence in medicine has changed over the past three decades, whether this trend is uniform across social groups and which aspects of medicine are most affected. Data are from repeated cross-sectional U.S. General Social Surveys spanning the years 1973–2008, including the 2002 Doctors and Patients Module and the 1998 Pressing Issues in Health and Medical Care Module. Americans’ confidence in medicine has declined continuously over the past three decades, and the extent of this decline did not vary by gender, age group, cohort, or income level. Analysis of differences across socio-demographic groups suggests that confidence in medicine is related to trust in doctors’ ethics but different from obedience to doctors’ authority. Therefore, the downward trend in confidence in medicine may suggest a decline in public trust in doctors’ ethics, but not necessarily a decline in obedience to doctors’ authority.
Low frequency Raman mode in smectic liquid crystals near the phase transitions

Abstract A low-frequency intermolecular Raman mode at ∼ 24 cm−1 was observed in the solid phase of two related smectic A compounds. This mode shifts abruptly to lower frequency and decreases in intensity at the transition to smectic, while vanishing in the liquid phase. Qualitative interpretation of the results is given.
Induction of class II major histocompatibility complex antigen expression in human granulosa cells by interferon gamma: a potential mechanism contributing to autoimmune ovarian failure.

We investigated the possibility that major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigens and interferon gamma, a product of activated T lymphocytes, play a role in human autoimmune oophoritis. MHC class II molecules initiate immune responses by presenting antigens to T-helper lymphocytes; interferon gamma can induce class II antigen expression at ectopic sites and has been implicated in the cause of various autoimmune disorders. We studied the expression of class II MHC antigens in ovaries from normal women of reproductive-age and from women with premature autoimmune ovarian failure. Immunoperoxidase technique applied to tissue sections of nine normal human ovaries revealed class II MHC antigen expression only on occasional cells of macrophage morphology; granulosa cells were negative regardless of stage of follicular maturation. In contrast, extensive and intense class II antigen expression was observed in granulosa cells in ovarian biopsy sections from four patients with premature autoimmune ovarian failure. Immunofluorescence and radiolmmunoassay techniques used to detect and quantitate MHC antigens revealed that class II antigen expression could be induced and class I MHC antigen expression was enhanced in granulosa cell cultures after the addition of interferon gamma. These data provide evidence that autoimmune oophoritis is associated with ectopic expression of MHC class II antigens by ovarian granulosa cells, and that this phenomenon can be induced by the immunologic cytokine interferon gamma.
Biocatalytically Templated Synthesis of Titanium Dioxide

Silicatein, an enzymatic biocatalyst purified from the glassy skeletal elements of a marine sponge, and previously shown capable of catalyzing and structurally directing the hydrolysis and polycondensation of silicon alkoxides to yield silica and silsesquioxanes at low temperature and pressure and neutral pH, is shown to be capable of catalyzing and templating the hydrolysis and subsequent polycondensation of a water-stable alkoxide-like conjugate of titanium to form titanium dioxide. The structure and behavior of the TiO2 formed through this biocatalytic route, including thermally induced crystal grain growth and phase transformation from anatase to rutile, differ from those of TiO2 formed from the same precursor via alkali catalysis or thermal pyrolysis. This enzymatic route affords a path to templated synthesis that avoids the high temperatures and extremes of pH typically required for synthesis of metallo-oxanes from the corresponding alkoxide-like precursors, and thus provides access to a new and pot...
Wave damping in Spartina alterniflora marshes

Though there is widespread agreement thatSpartinaalterniflora marshes absorb some wave energy, there is considerable question regarding the magnitude and importance of this process. It has been suggested that marshes are much like an array of vertical cylinders in a water column. Based upon empirical estimates of the fluid drag forces occurring on vertical cylinders and laboratory observations of various arrays of cylinders, a model was developed to describe wave decay in marshes. In 1981, a series of field experiments were conducted to test and calibrate this empirical model in a series of naturalS.alterniflora marshes. The model with some modification was found to be very useful for describing wave decay in coastal marshes.
National narrative, ethnology, and academia in post-Soviet Uzbekistan

Abstract Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the new states of Central Asia have been obliged to adjust their institutions to new symbolic frontiers and to take into account the independence they achieved in 1991. Both universities and Academies of Sciences have been called to reconsider their research policies and to orient them in order to respond to emerging national issues. The building of national narratives is a particularly relevant object of study in observing the various modes of legitimization of the Central Asian states and the scientific instruments they deem necessary for their political validation. The aim of this paper is to overcome the apparent, albeit actual, character of a number of changes that have taken place in Uzbekistan since 1991, in order to demonstrate the continuity of personal, institutional, and intellectual lines uniting contemporary research to that conducted during Soviet period. The preference accorded to ancient history, the praise of the originality and long heritage of the people, and an obsession with ethnogenesis, all are rooted in the contemporary narrative of the previous regime. They invite a reconsideration of the past two decades in a more nuanced manner and a rereading of the Soviet past in order to understand the process of building the nation-state, which has now been underway for more than half a century.
Semantic Differential Comparisons of Attributions and Dimensions among Respondents from Seven Nations

Semantic classifications of 11 attributes of achievement (Bias, Help, Luck, Ability, Competence, Effort, Task, Chance, Knowledge, Skills, and Mood) were compared using a 7-point scale on the dimens...
Context is Quick, Knowledge is Slow: Rapid Time-Course of Contextual Modulations in the Horizontal-Vertical Illusion

One of the oldest visual illusions consists of observers' tendency to estimate vertical lines as longer than equal horizontal lines. This Horizontal-Vertical Illusion has been studied widely; however, most studies may not generalize to natural contexts because they have not addressed the low-level processes that occur rapidly and in response to context-free lines vs the possibility for high-level processes that arise over time in response to context. These issues were investigated via a novel design: rapid time-sequencing embedded within the context of natural images. Participants saw different levels of context and the Horizontal-Vertical Illusion was measured. In traditional Horizontal-Vertical Illusion displays without natural context, there was a robust invariance of the illusion to stimulus duration. Within context, however, there was strong modulation: the magnitude of the illusion decreased by over 50% or increased over 30%, depending upon placement within context. Knowledge of object properties such as size or line length did not account for this effect. It appears that previous domain-general investigations of the Horizontal-Vertical Illusion did not address the specific higher-order processes that produce the illusion in natural contexts.
Analysis of the linear amplifier/analog-digital converter interface in a digital microwave receiver

An analysis of the relationship between a linear amplifier chain and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in a digital microwave receiver, with respect to sensitivity and dynamic range issues, is presented. The effects of gain, third-order intermodulation products and ADC characteristics on the performance of the receiver are illustrated and design criteria for the linear amplifier chain (given a specified ADC) are developed. A computer program is included which calculates theoretical receiver performance based on gain and third-order intermodulation product selections. Experimental results are also presented and compared with theoretical values. >
CERR: A computational environment for radiotherapy research

A software environment is described, called the computational environment for radiotherapy research (CERR, pronounced "sir"). CERR partially addresses four broad needs in treatment planning research: (a) it provides a convenient and powerful software environment to develop and prototype treatment planning concepts, (b) it serves as a software integration environment to combine treatment planning software written in multiple languages (MATLAB, FORTRAN, C/C++, JAVA, etc.), together with treatment plan information (computed tomography scans, outlined structures, dose distributions, digital films, etc.), (c) it provides the ability to extract treatment plans from disparate planning systems using the widely available AAPM/RTOG archiving mechanism, and (d) it provides a convenient and powerful tool for sharing and reproducing treatment planning research results. The functional components currently being distributed, including source code, include: (1) an import program which converts the widely available AAPM/RTOG treatment planning format into a MATLAB cell-array data object, facilitating manipulation; (2) viewers which display axial, coronal, and sagittal computed tomography images, structure contours, digital films, and isodose lines or dose colorwash, (3) a suite of contouring tools to edit and/or create anatomical structures, (4) dose-volume and dose-surface histogram calculation and display tools, and (5) various predefined commands. CERR allows the user to retrieve any AAPM/RTOG key word information about the treatment plan archive. The code is relatively self-describing, because it relies on MATLAB structure field name definitions based on the AAPM/RTOG standard. New structure field names can be added dynamically or permanently. New components of arbitrary data type can be stored and accessed without disturbing system operation. CERR has been applied to aid research in dose-volume-outcome modeling, Monte Carlo dose calculation, and treatment planning optimization. In summary, CERR provides a powerful, convenient, and common framework which allows researchers to use common patient data sets, and compare and share research results.