cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Generalized reference fields and source interpolation for the difference formulation of radiation transport

In the difference formulation for the transport of thermally emitted photons the photon intensity is defined relative to a reference field, the black body at the local material temperature. This choice of reference field combines the separate emission and absorption terms that nearly cancel, thereby removing the dominant cause of noise in the Monte Carlo solution of thick systems, but introduces time and space derivative source terms that cannot be determined until the end of the time step. The space derivative source term can also lead to noise induced crashes under certain conditions where the real physical photon intensity differs strongly from a black body at the local material temperature. In this paper, we consider a difference formulation relative to the material temperature at the beginning of the time step, or in cases where an alternative temperature better describes the radiation field, that temperature. The result is a method where iterative solution of the material energy equation is efficient and noise induced crashes are avoided. We couple our generalized reference field scheme with an ad hoc interpolation of the space derivative source, resulting in an algorithm that produces the correct flux between zones as the physical system approaches the thick limit.
Reproducibility of fan-beam DXA measurements in adults and phantoms.

Abstract As part of a multicenter study, we examined the intersite reproducibility of bone mineral content (BMC) and areal density (BMD) among three fan-beam dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) instruments from one manufacturer, all using the same software version. Spine, femur, and body-composition phantoms were each scanned nine times at each center. Over a 3-wk period, the same 10 adults were scanned once at each of the three centers. For the spine and femur phantoms, the precision errors were 0.3–0.7%. For the body-composition phantom, the precision errors were 0.8–2.8%. The intersite coefficients of variation for the human measurements varied from 1.1 to 6.8%, depending on the bone site. We conclude that even when using the same fan-beam DXA model and software, an intersite cross-comparison using only phantoms may be inadequate. Comparisons based solely on the use of a spine phantom are insufficient to ensure compatibility of human bone mineral data at other bone sites or for the whole body.
Techniques for microstructural characterization of powder-processed nickel-based superalloys

Methods are described for sample preparation of polycrystalline Ni-based superalloys in order to perform a detailed microstructural characterization. Specific techniques for the precise definition of the various phases present are outlined and these are shown to be useful for the measurement of size, volume fractions and distribution. A number of optical, scanning and transmission microscopy techniques are used to provide the necessary information.
Synthesis of stereoregular polymers through ring-opening metathesis polymerization.

ConspectusSome of the most readily available and inexpensive monomers for ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) are norbornenes or substituted norbornadienes. Polymers made from them have tacticities (the stereochemical relationship between monomer units in the polymer chain) that remain after the C═C bonds in the polymer backbone are hydrogenated. Formation of polymers with exclusively a single structure (one tacticity) was rare until approximately 20 years ago, when well-defined ROMP catalysts based on molybdenum imido alkylidene complexes that contain a chiral biphenolate or binaphtholate ligand were shown to yield cis,isotactic-poly(2,3-dicarbomethoxynorbornadiene) and related polymers through addition of the monomer to the same side of the M═C bond in each step. Over the past few years, molybdenum and tungsten monoaryloxide pyrrolide (MAP) imido alkylidene initiators have been found to produce cis,syndiotactic polynorbornenes and substituted norbornadienes through addition of the monomer to o...
Resolving the three-dimensional myoarchitecture of bovine esophageal wall with diffusion spectrum imaging and tractography

In order to determine the three-dimensional (3D) resolved muscular anatomy of the mammalian esophagus, we have examined its myoarchitecture with diffusion spectrum magnetic resonance imaging (DSI) and tractography. DSI measures diffusion displacement as a function of magnetic gradients of varied direction and intensity and displays the displacement profile as a 3D contour per voxel. In tractography, the orientation vectors of maximum diffusion/voxel are identified, and intervoxel associations are constructed by a streamline algorithm based on angular similarity in order to generate mesoscale myofiber tracts. We demonstrate that the proximal body of the esophagus consists of helically aligned crossing fiber populations that overlap between layers in the form of a "zipper" region along the length of the tissue. With increasingly distal position along the length of the tissue, helix angle and skeletal muscle prevalence are reduced such that fibers align themselves in the most distal location into distinct inner circular and outer longitudinal smooth muscle layers. We conclude that esophageal myoanatomy consists of crossing myofibers exhibiting a decreasing degree of helicity as a function of axial position and propose that this unique geometric construct provides a mechanism to resist distension and promote aboral flow.
Effects of μ-Opioid Receptor Agonists in Assays of Acute Pain-Stimulated and Pain-Depressed Behavior in Male Rats: Role of μ-Agonist Efficacy and Noxious Stimulus Intensity

Pain is associated with stimulation of some behaviors and depression of others, and μ-opioid receptor agonists are among the most widely used analgesics. This study used parallel assays of pain-stimulated and pain-depressed behavior in male Sprague-Dawley rats to compare antinociception profiles for six μ-agonists that varied in efficacy at μ-opioid receptors (from highest to lowest: methadone, fentanyl, morphine, hydrocodone, buprenorphine, and nalbuphine). Intraperitoneal injection of diluted lactic acid served as an acute noxious stimulus to either stimulate stretching or depress operant responding maintained by electrical stimulation in an intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS). All μ-agonists blocked both stimulation of stretching and depression of ICSS produced by 1.8% lactic acid. The high-efficacy agonists methadone and fentanyl were more potent at blocking acid-induced depression of ICSS than acid-stimulated stretching, whereas lower-efficacy agonists displayed similar potency across assays. All μ-agonists except morphine also facilitated ICSS in the absence of the noxious stimulus at doses similar to those that blocked acid-induced depression of ICSS. The potency of the low-efficacy μ-agonist nalbuphine, but not the high-efficacy μ-agonist methadone, to block acid-induced depression of ICSS was significantly reduced by increasing the intensity of the noxious stimulus to 5.6% acid. These results demonstrate sensitivity of acid-induced depression of ICSS to a range of clinically effective μ-opioid analgesics and reveal distinctions between opioids based on efficacy at the μ-receptor. These results also support the use of parallel assays of pain-stimulated and -depressed behaviors to evaluate analgesic efficacy of candidate drugs.
A theoretical and experimental investigation of the effects of a steady angle of attack on the nonlinear flutter of a delta wing plate model

Limit cycle oscillations (LCO) of wings on certain modern high performance aircraft have been observed in flight and in wind tunnel experiments. Whether the physical mechanism that gives rise to this behavior is a fluid or structural nonlinearity or both is still uncertain. It has been shown that an aeroelastic theoretical model with only a structural nonlinearity can predict accurately the limit cycle behavior at low subsonic flow for a plate-like wing at zero angle of attack. Changes in the limit cycle and flutter behavior as the angle of attack is varied have also been observed in flight. It has been suggested that this sensitivity to angle of attack is due to a fluid nonlinearity. In this investigation, we study the flutter and limit cycle behavior of a wing in low subsonic flow at small steady angles of attack. Experimental results are compared to those predicted using an aeroelastic theoretical model with only a structural nonlinearity. Results from both experiment and theory show a change in flutter speed as the steady angle of attack is varied. Also the LCO magnitude increased at a given velocity as the angle of attack was increased for both the experiment and theory. While not proving that the observed sensitivity to angle of attack of LCO in aircraft is due to a structural nonlinearity, the results do show that a change in the aeroelastic behavior at angles of attack can be caused by a structural nonlinearity as well as a fluid nonlinearity. In this paper, only structural nonlinearities are considered, but an extension to include aerodynamic nonlinearities would be very worthwhile.
Electrocatalytic reductive dimerization of the 2,2′-bipyridyl tungsten alkylidyne complex [W(CC6H4NMe2-4)(NCMe)(CO)2{κ2-2,2′-(NC5H4)2}]+

Abstract Potentiometric measurements have shown that the cationic 2,2′-bipyridyl tungsten alkylidyne complex [W( CC 6 H 4 NMe 2 -4)(NCMe)(CO) 2 {κ 2 -2,2′-(NC 5 H 4 ) 2 }][PF 6 ] ( 2 ) is electroactive in MeCN solution with a reduction ( E pc ≈ −1.0 V vs. ferrocene) leading to complex dimerization, identified by a number of electrochemical markers. Multiple redox cycles have led to the partial deposition of the dimerized product on the electrode surface, which appears to electrocatalyze subsequent coupling cycles. Comparison with electrochemical measurements of related alkylidyne complexes, including the precursor complex [W( CC 6 H 4 NMe 2 -4)(O 2 CCF 3 )(CO) 2 {κ 2 -2,2′- (NC 5 H 4 ) 2 }] ( 1 ), has provided indirect evidence of intermolecular bond formation between κ 2 -2,2′-bipyridyl ligands. The cationic complex 2 has additionally been the subject of gamess computational analysis, revealing calculated ν max (CO) stretching absorptions in good agreement with measured parameters. This study has also permitted a molecular orbital analysis, which has indicated an energy-accessible LUMO almost entirely located on the 2,2′-bipyridyl ligand of complex 2 , the purported site for dimerization. It is believed that occupation of this orbital upon reduction of compound 2 leads to a short-lived metastable precursor to 2,2′-bipyridyl ring coupling. Furthermore, a very weak π-antibonding interaction of the metal–alkylidyne π-framework with the MeCN ligand in the occupied frontier molecular orbitals of complex 2 has been noted and compared with a surprisingly significant π interaction with the CF 3 CO 2 - carboxylate group in complex 1 .
Statins in the management of dyslipidemia associated with chronic kidney disease.

Accelerated cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and treatment with statin therapy is an important avenue for investigation. Here, Epstein and Vaziri discuss the pathogenesis of dyslipidemia in CKD and end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and examine the findings from three major clinical trials on statin therapy in patients with CKD and ESRD. The cause of death in the majority of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is accelerated cardiovascular disease and not renal failure per se, suggesting a role for statin therapy in this setting. During the past 6 years three large, randomized, placebo-controlled studies of three different statins have been conducted in the dialysis population—but two of these studies did not demonstrate any benefits of statin therapy, and the third study showed only marginally positive results. To understand why statins have failed to reduce cardiovascular events in patients with ESRD, the basic mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of dyslipidemia in CKD must be critically examined. The observed negative results in the clinical trials of statin therapy might also reflect the biomarkers and targets that were chosen to be evaluated. The characteristics of dyslipidemia in patients with CKD not yet requiring dialysis treatment differ markedly from those of individuals with established ESRD and form the basis for therapeutic recommendations. The potential adverse effects associated with statin therapy are important to consider in the management of dyslipidemia in patients with CKD.
Epitaxial growth and characterization of InAs/GaSb and InAs/InAsSb type-II superlattices on GaSb substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition for long wavelength infrared photodetectors

Abstract We report on the epitaxial growth and characterization of InAs/GaSb and InAs/InAsSb type-ІІ superlattices (T2SLs) on GaSb substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. For InAs/GaSb strained T2SLs, interfacial layers were introduced at the superlattice interfaces to compensate the tensile strain and hence to improve the overall material quality of the superlattice structures. The optimal morphology and low strain was achieved via a combined interfacial layer scheme with 1 monolayer (ML) InAsSb+1 ML InGaSb layers. In contrast, the InAs/InAsSb strain-balanced T2SLs allow for a relatively easy strain management and simple precursor flow switching scheme while maintaining device-quality materials. Surface root mean square roughness of 0.108 nm and a nearly zero net strain were obtained, with effective bandgaps of 147 and 94 meV determined for two sets of InAs/InAsSb strain-balanced T2SLs.
Ultrasonographic fetal iliac length measurement in the screening for Down, syndrome

Objective: Pelvic bone abnormalities are common in newborns with Down syndrome. The aim of thi, study was to evaluate the utility of ultrasonographic iliac bone length measurement in the identification fetuses with Down syndrome in the second trimester of gestation. Study Design: Ultrasonographic iliac length measurement was obtained, in an axial view of the fetal pelvis, on 10 fetuses with Down syndrome and 180 karyotypically normal fetuses before genetic amniocentesis. Regression equations relating biparietal diameter to iliac length measurement were use( to calculate ratios of observed-to-expected length, sensitivity, and specificity at various cutoff points. Results: Linear regression of iliac length measurement on biparietal diameter for normal fetuses resulted in the following equation: Iliac length measurement (centimeters) = -0.2723 + 0.0333 biparie' diameter (millimeters). Iliac length measurement in Down syndrome fetuses was significantly longer than in normal controls ( p Conclusion: : Iliac length measurement is increased in fetuses with Down syndrome. An observed-to-expected iliac length measurement of ≥1.21 has a positive predictive value of 1/38 in a low-risk population with a false-positive rate of 2%. This preliminary study suggests that iliac length measurement may be useful as an ancillary screening variable in antenatal screening for Down syndrome.
Composite wing optimization for enhancement of the rolling maneuver in subsonic flow

This paper is concerned with designing an optimum composite wing structure with enhanced roll maneuver capability at high dynamic pressures using a control system to retwist and recamber the wing. Antisymmetric twist and camber distribution on a composite flexible wing, weight optimized with constraints on strength and aileron efficiencies also satisfying flutter requirements, were determined to counter act the detrimental twisting moment of the aileron at high dynamic pressure. The retwisting and recambering of the wing is achieved by providing control forces obtained from a technique referred to as “Fictitious Control Surfaces” (FCS). Two different optimally designed wings with unacceptable roll performance were selected for roll performance improvement investigation. The control energy necessary to retwist the wing to improve the unacceptable roll performance for subsonic design condition was calculated to provide the structural designer an alternative, to the traditional increase of stiffness to satisfy roll performance.
Effect of the structural parameters of refractories on their slag impregnation in the units used for vacuum refining of steels

We studied the effect of the specific features of the pore structure (porosity) and the wetting characteristics of the refractories on their depth of impregnation in the units used for vacuum refining of steels. The changes occurring in the pore space of the refractories during their service were examined. Minimum impregnation occurs in the materials having an insignificant content of the glass phase, a branched pore structure, and a large total volume of fine pores (in particular, pores measuring <1 μm in radius).
An experimental investigation of heat transfer in a partially filled horizontal enclosure

An experimental investigation of natural convection in enclosures that are partially filled with a variety of commonly used fibrous insulations is presented. The investigation directly aims at simulating conditions that closely relate to realistic situations in which these insulations are used. It is the heat transfer process at the low RaL∗ values, which relates to the realistic situations in which these insulations are used, that has been largely ignored. It is found that although the heat transfer rate does increase as soon as an air gap is introduced, for some cases it might be beneficial to reduce the insulation by as much as one-third at the expense of a modest increase in heat transfer.
Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Expression in Smooth Muscle Cells and Macrophages of Human Transplant Coronary Artery Disease

Background—The inducible isoform of the nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) produces large amounts of nitric oxide in response to cytokine stimulation. Previous investigations have demonstrated iNOS expression in the setting of acute and chronic rejection in experimental cardiac transplant models. The goal of this study was to investigate whether iNOS is upregulated in human transplant coronary artery disease (TCAD), a major cause of late mortality after cardiac transplantation. Methods and Results—We studied 15 patients with TCAD and 10 with normal coronary arteries. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry were used in tissue sections to localize iNOS mRNA and protein, respectively. The presence of peroxynitrite was indirectly assessed by immunostaining with an anti-nitrotyrosine antibody. Normal coronary arteries had no evidence of iNOS expression. In contrast, 30 of 36 coronary artery segments with TCAD (83%) were immunostained by the iNOS antibody. The presence of iNOS mRNA was demonstrated in these v...
Nonlinear Dicke superradiance models: Nonexistence of a phase transition

We present a nonlinear Dicke superradiance model; calculate the canonical partition function using Glauber's coherent-states representation for the photon field; and for a particular case, show that the phase transition does not exist unless the model reduces to the Dicke model.
Coupling Efficiency of Helical Coil Hyperthermia Applications

Experimental measurements have been made of the coupling efficiency of helical coil applicators operating under conditions simulating the regional hyperthermic heating of human extremities. We have found that for both saline and layered fat-muscle arm-size phantoms, the coupling efficiency ranged from 56 to 86 percent depending upon the specific coil-phantom combination employed. Helical coil applicators, therefore, seem to be inherently efficient devices for extremity heating.
Efficacy of a Biomonitoring (Moss Bag) Technique for Determining Element Deposition Trends on a Mid-Range (375 Km) Scale

National networks detect multi-state trends in element deposition using direct measurement methods. Biomonitoring techniques have been used to examine deposition in local areas and around point sources. We sought to determine the efficacy of a moss bag technique to detect element deposition trends on a mid-range (state) scale, and to compare these results with those of the National Acid Deposition Program/National Trends Network (NADP/NTN, 1999). We sampled heavy metals, sulfur, and nitrogen deposition (21 elements) using mesh bags containing Sphagnum russowii at nine sites, over a 375 km transect crossing southern Wisconsin (upper Midwest, USA). We found statistically significant trends of decreasing deposition in a northwesterly direction for 13 elements: Al, B, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, S, and Zn. Six of these have moderate to large changes in concentration (14-37%). The trends for Ca, Mg, and S are consistent with regional deposition patterns in 1998 isopleth maps from the NADP/NTN (1999) which are derived from a sampling array far less dense than the transect sites. This national network indicates that Ca and Mg increase to the southeast, beyond Wisconsin borders. The fact that the present study demonstrates strong correlations between both of these elements (Ca and Mg) and Al, B, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn (mean r for all correlations = 0.75, p < 0.02) implies that these correlated elements also increase to the southeast in neighboring states.
The role of aluminium contamination in determining phytoplankton and zooplankton responses to acidification

A bioassay was performed at neutral pH Lake O' Woods, West Virginia using in situ enclosures. Replicated enclosures were either (a) untreated controls, (b) acidified to pH 4.7, or (c) acidified and spiked with 300 μg L−1 Al. Algal and zooplankton responses to the treatments were compared to determine whether the impacts of acidification are influenced by Al concentration. With acidification, chlorophyll a concentration increased but zooplankton abundance did not change. The phytoplankton became dominated by the dinoflagellate Peridinium inconspicuum, while in the control, diatoms, euglenophytes and chlorophytes were dominant. Acidification did not result in succession in the zooplankton because all of the dominant species at the start of the experiment were acid tolerant. Aluminium addition resulted in reduced chlorophyll a concentration and zooplankton abundance. The same phytoplankton and zooplankton became dominant in the acid and acid plus Al treatments. This suggests a linkage between the ability to tolerate elevated H+ and elevated Al levels.
Derivation of Stochastic Partial Differential Equations

A procedure is explained for deriving stochastic partial differential equations from basic principles. A discrete stochastic model is first constructed. Then, a stochastic differential equation system is derived, which leads to a certain stochastic partial differential equation. To illustrate the procedure, a representative problem is first studied in detail. Exact solutions, available for the representative problem, show that the resulting stochastic partial differential equation is accurate. Next, stochastic partial differential equations are derived for a one-dimensional vibrating string, for energy-dependent neutron transport, and for cotton-fiber breakage. Several computational comparisons are made.
Removing the Confusion Over Droughts and Floods: The Interface Between Scientists and Policy Makers

Droughts and floods, as precipitation excesses, are quite different natural hazards, and each costs the United States more than $1 billion in losses annually. At the impact and policy levels, confusion arises from an inability to define droughts suitably and to identify flood losses in a quantitative way, unaffected by population changes, land use shifts, and other socioeconomic factors. Examples from Illinois research are used to show how relationships can be developed between generally understandable precipitation values and drought or flood losses in various economic sectors and land use areas. Then, the time and space variations of the events can be objectively assessed by using the precipitation data, providing meaningful scientific-engineering definitions for use by decision makers.
Cellular changes and physiological responses to tuber pressure-bruising

Tubers located at lower depths in bins of stored potatoes suffer from pressure-bruising which often develops into an internal grayish or blackspot-like defect. However, little is known about key physiological and cellular changes that constitute pressure-bruising and resulting defects that degrade potato marketability and profits. We determined the changes in periderm water vapor permeability and some of the changes in cellular integrity that may occur in pressure-bruised areas compared to non-pressure-bruised areas of tubers after eight months of storage. Porometric measurements of pressure-bruised areas revealed elevated water vapor loss, which is conducive to blackspot formation, even though there were no apparent breaks in the periderm of pressure-bruised areas. Pressurebruised areas did not appear to readily wound-heal, because the elevated water vapor loss was shown to continue, without decline, when the tubers were porometrically measured again 4 days after removal from the pressure-bruising environment. Analysis of changes in cellular integrity of pressure-bruised regions showed that the tough, rigid cells of the suberized phellem could be damaged or completely flattened by this form of stress. A layer of what appeared to be crushed cells was often detected beneath the pressure-bruised, but partially intact, phellem. Autofluorescence of the crushed layer appeared to be derived from cell walls of collapsed phelloderm cells, starch granules of neighboring cells and material accumulated as a physiological response to the cellular damage incurred from pressure-bruising. These results help explain why the blackspot-like defect sometimes occurs at pressure-bruise sites.
Toward smarter health and well-being: an implicit role for networking and information technology

The number of people afflicted with chronic illnesses such as obesity, cancer, and diabetes has soared in recent years, generating new kinds of disparate medical challenges. In turn, these challenges have resulted in skyrocketing costs, preventable deaths, and medical malpractice claims. For example, studies have found nearly half of all US patients receive inadequate care each year, over 2 million are harmed by hospital-acquired infections, and over 1 million suffer disabling complications during surgery – even though half of these are thought to be avoidable. These challenges have catalyzed the beginning of a transformation in care delivery, from a health-care system that focuses on disease to one that must look after patients – including individuals and communities. To provide proper treatment to those who are chronically ill, the health-care system has to support improved individuals’ health-related practices prior to the manifestation of disease; ensure that a range of practitioners can deliver quality clinical care during the onset of an illness; and facilitate patient-provider-family partnerships during post-disease wellness care. As we describe in this review, key advances in networking and information technologies – spanning patient monitoring, data visualization and decision making, robotics and computer vision for diagnosis and surgery, social networking for fostering community-based support systems, and so on – stand to drive forward these changes. Together with social scientists, systems engineers, medical practitioners, and computer scientists, information systems scholars can help alter the nature of care delivery well into the twenty-first century, ultimately contributing to a system that is much more safe, effective, reliable, and timely than it is today.
Interference with the cytoplasmic tail of gp210 disrupts "close apposition" of nuclear membranes and blocks nuclear pore dilation.

We tested the hypothesis that gp210, an integral membrane protein of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs), mediates nuclear pore formation. Gp210 has a large lumenal domain and small COOH-terminal tail exposed to the cytoplasm. We studied the exposed tail. We added recombinant tail polypeptides to Xenopus nuclear assembly extracts, or inhibited endogenous gp210 tails using anti-tail antibodies. Both strategies had no effect on the formation of fused flattened nuclear membranes, but blocked NPC assembly and nuclear growth. Inhibited nuclei accumulated gp210 and some nucleoporin p62, but failed to incorporate nup214/CAN, nup153, or nup98 and were defective for nuclear import of lamin B3. Scanning and transmission EM revealed a lack of “closely apposed” inner and outer membranes, and the accumulation of novel arrested structures including “mini-pores.” We conclude that gp210 has early roles in nuclear pore formation, and that pore dilation is mediated by gp210 and its tail-binding partner(s). We propose that membrane fusion and pore dilation are coupled, acting as a mechanism to control nuclear pore size.
A baseline stabilizer for electrophysiology

We describe a circuit that compensates for a slowly drifting baseline without distorting the signal of interest. Implementation of this non-linear filter is quite simple; total cost of components is less than $20.00. The baseline stabilizer should be especially useful for intracellular recording and for recording evoked surface potentials.
Hyperargininemia with Arginase Deficiency

Summary: A female and a male sibling aged 15 and 8 yr developed almost normally for 3 yr, then gradually deteriorated intellectually and physically. Both patients showed marked hyperargininuria (up to 370 times normal), prominent lysinuria, cystinuria, and ornithinuria, and a milder generalized amino aciduria. In plasma, arginine was 600–1000 μM (4–7 times normal), but other amino acids were not increased. The levels did not change in response to increased protein intake from 1–3 g/kg/day. In cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), arginine was 70–100 μM (3–5 times normal) and numerous other amino acids were also high. Plasma ammonia was generally normal, but rose to 250 μg/dl (5 times normal) after increased protein intake and, occasionally, other stresses. The erythrocyte arginase activity level was <1% of normal and half normal in the mother and three healthy siblings. White blood cell arginase activity was less than 5% of the lowest normal control. Liver obtained at open biopsy in the older sibling was deficient in arginase activity (1.5% of normal), but had levels of the other four urea cycle enzymes that were within the normal range. Electron microscopic and histochemical studies revealed patchy severe hydropic changes, increased cellular glycogen, normal mitochondria, and dilated endoplasmic reticulum. Speculation: The pathogenesis of the neurologic abnormalities in patients with arginase deficiency may in part be the perturbation of intra-cellular amino acid levels secondary to the elevated levels of arginine.
Quantitative determination of DRF-1042 in human plasma by HPLC: validation and application in clinical pharmacokinetics.

A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed and validated for the determination of DRF-1042, a novel orally active camptothecin (CPT) analog, in human plasma. The sample preparation was a simple deproteinization with acidiﬁed methanol yielding almost 100% recovery of DRF-1042. An isocratic reverse-phase HPLC separation was developed on a Supelcosil-LC318 column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) with mobile phase consisting of 1% v/v triethylamine acetate, pH 5.5 and acetonitrile (80:20, v/v) at a ﬂow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The eluate was monitored with a ﬂuorescence detector set at excitation and emission wavelengths of 370 and 430 nm, respectively. The standard curves were linear (r2 > 0.999) in the concentration ranges 5.0–2004 ng/mL. The lower limit of quantiﬁcation (LLQ) of the assay was 5 ng/mL. The mean measured quality control (QC) concentrations (range 5 ng/mL to 40 µg/mL) deviated from the nominal concentrations in the range of −10.5–0.08 and −14.5–7.97%, inter- and intra-day, respectively. The inter- and intra-day precisions in the measurement of QC samples at four tested concentrations, were in the range 0.64–5.89% relative standard deviation (RSD) and 0.33–14.7% RSD, respectively. The method was found to be suitable for measurement of plasma concentrations above the calibration curve after serial dilutions. Stability of DRF-1042 was conﬁrmed in a battery of studies, viz., on bench-top, in the auto-sampler, in the stock solutions, after four quick freeze–thaw cycles, up to one month at −20C in human plasma and up to 2 months in the ex vivo samples. The method is simple, sensitive and reliable and has been successfully implemented to investigate the clinical pharmacokinetics of DRF-1042 in cancer patients in a phase I clinical trial. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Intestinal Absorption of Unhydrolyzed Tripalmitin.

Summary and ConclusionA mixture of 20 mg of tripalmitin, C14 labeled in both the gly-cerol and acid moieties, and 180 mg of tri-unsatured triglycerides, was mixed in 1 g of a fat free ration and fed to a rat with a thoracic duct cannula. Lymph was collected for 9 hours. A second meal was fed and the lymph collected for 6 hours. It was found that in the 2 periods respectively, 3.3 and 3.2% as much of the labeled glycerol appeared in the lymph saturated triglyceride as would have appeared there had all the labeled lymph acid been absorbed unhydrolyzed. It was concluded, therefore, that only 3.3 and 3.2% of the tripalmitin was absorbed unhydrolyzed.
A bi-directional two-phase/two-phase heat exchanger

This paper describes the design and test of a heat exchanger that transfers heat from one two-phase thermal loop to another with very small drops in temperature and pressure. The heat exchanger condenses the vapor in one loop while evaporating the liquid in the other without mixing of the condensing and evaporating fluids. The heat exchanger is bidirectional in that it can transfer heat in reverse, condensing on the normally evaporating side and vice versa. It is fully compatible with capillary pumped loops and mechanically pumped loops. Test results verified that performance of the heat exchanger met the design requirements. It demonstrated a heat transfer rate of 6800 watts in the normal mode of operation and 1000 watts in the reverse mode with temperature drops of less than 5 C between two thermal loops.
A Nonparametric Test for Ordered Alternatives in Two-Way Layouts with Censored Data

A nonparametric test is presented to test for ordered alternatives of the treatment effects when the data follow a two-way layout. The observations are subject to arbitrary right censorship. The test is similar to the one developed by Hettmansperger and Norton (1987) for uncensored observations.
Privatisation and the Emerging New Ownership Structure in East Central Europe: The Case of Hungary

(1994). Privatisation and the emerging new ownership structure in East Central Europe: The case of Hungary. The European Journal of Development Research: Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 124-142.
Effect of Prudhoe Bay Crude Oil on the Homing of Coho Salmon in Marine Waters

Abstract Resource managers and the fishing industry have expressed concern that a crude-oil spill occurring in the pathway of a salmon run may destroy the ability of the maturing salmon to reach the home stream. To address this concern, groups of mature 3-year-old and precocious 2-year-old coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch were tagged and exposed in seawater for 1 h to sublethal concentrations of Prudhoe Bay crude oil, dispersed oil, or seawater oil dispersant alone, and then were released in seawater about 5 km from their home stream. The results show that the coho salmon's homing success and speed of return to the home stream were not affected by any of the treatments. The longevity or holding tests, in which coho salmon were held in saltwater net-pens after experimental treatments, showed that the larger 3-year-old coho salmon were more sensitive to the stress of confinement than the smaller 2-year-old fish.
Central Retinal Vascular Occlusion Associated with Oral Contraceptives

A 40-year-old woman took oral contraceptives for four years. She developed a vascular glaucoma and one year later the eye was enucleated. No other apparent cause for the occlusion was present. The vascular occlusion consisted of a combined central retinal artery and vein occlusion with severe intimal hyperplasia. An intravascular granulomatous reaction is attributed to chronic vascular injury.
Isolation and characterization of a higher plant ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase small subunit homotetramer.

ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) is the allosterically regulated gateway for carbon entry into transient and storage starch in plants as well as glycogen in bacteria. This enzyme plays a key role in the modulation of photosynthetic efficiency in source tissues and directly determines the level of storage starch in sink tissues, thus influencing overall crop yield potential. AGPase is a tetrameric enzyme; in higher plants it consists of two regulatory large subunits (LS) and two catalytic small subunits (SS), while in cyanobacteria and prokaryotes the enzyme is homotetrameric. The potato SS gene in pML10 was mutated by hydroxylamine and mutants were screened for elevated homotetrameric activity by iodine vapor staining. This search strategy led to the isolation of SS mutants (SUP-1, TG-15) that had pyrophosphorylase activity in the absence of the LS. TG-15 has a leucine to phenylalanine change at position 48 (L48F) that corresponds to a phenylalanine residue at the analogous position in the Escherichia coli homotetrameric AGPase as well as a valine to isoleucine change at position 59 (V59I). TG-15 was partially purified and kinetic analysis revealed substrate and effector affinities equal to wild type heterotetrameric enzyme with the exception of ATP binding.
Case Commentary—Bass v. Barksdale: Implications for Public Health and Home Care Nurses

A recent malpractice case involved public health nurses. Given the legal issues based on this case, recommendations can be made to help ensure legal accountability, improve practice, and minimize liability risk. Areas of concern include doctor's orders and communication relating to telephone orders, the nurse's accountability to the client, documentation and patient teaching, the physician's duty to supervise the nurse, and corporate negligence. The court's analysis of the facts in finding areas of liability can guide nurses in avoiding malpractice litigation.
Recovery of concentrated protein samples from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels

Abstract Procedures are described for the isolation, concentration, and further analysis of proteins that have been subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). After analysis by SDS-PAGE, particular proteins are eluted electrophoretically from fixed and stained or from unstained gels into SDS-containing or nonionic detergent-containing buffers in a specifically designed apparatus consisting of gel particle and protein elution chambers, Eluted proteins can be further concentrated if necessary into volumes suitable for reanalysis on SDS or urea gels by precipitation with trichloroacetic acid, followed by filtration onto polycarbonate filters and reextraction into SDS or nonionic detergent buffers. Protein recoveries are 65–90% at each step.
Orientation toward utilization of support resources

A construct in social support that has received relatively little attention is network orientation: the individual's willingness to utilize his or her social support resources. This construct and a 20-item self-report measure of it are presented. Data from five samples, including four samples of somewhat heterogeneous students and one sample of community adults, were used to assess the reliability and validity of the instrument. The instrument showed good internal consistency and showed excellent stability in the community sample, but not in the student samples. The measure showed good validity with respect to a range of social support criterion measures, somewhat good validity with respect to personal characteristics, and somewhat poor validity with respect to coping and self-disclosure criteria. It was proposed that individuals who have social support resources but do not use them may be an important focus for interventions.
On methods for the isolation of mitochondria from etiolated corn shoots

Abstract Mitochondria were isolated from etiolated corn shoots by two methods, one involving gradient purification and the other by centrifuging through a 0.6 M sucrose “cushion”. There were no major differences in State 3 or State 4 malate oxidation rates, respiratory control ratios, ADP:O ratios, outer membrane integrity, or swelling rates in salt solutions. The slightly superior quality of cushion mitochondria probably reflects the shorter time required for isolation. Corn mitochondria isolated by both methods showed passive swelling in KCl solutions but this does not appear to reflect anything abnormal about membrane integrity.
Thermal softening of a particlemodified tungsten-based composite under adiabatic compression

Abstract A micromechanics study is made of the rate-dependent thermal softening behavior of a tungsten matrix composite containing glassy particles. Under adiabatic compression of the composite, the elastic glassy particles thermally soften at relatively high strains, enhancing the thermal softening of the tungsten-based composite, thus reducing the strain rate sensitivity and fostering shear localization. To guide the microstructural design of the particle-modified tungsten-based composite in penetration applications, systematic predictions are made for the stress-strain behavior of the composite under overall adiabatic compression with different temperature-dependent behaviors, sizes, volume fractions of the particle and different applied strain rates. The temperature-dependent behavior of the particles is characterized by a set of exponential functions using two non-dimensional parameters and a reference temperature. The plastic behavior of tungsten is taken to be power-law strain and strain rate hardening. It is found that the radius r of the particles has very little influence on the composite behavior if r ⩽ 10 μ m. It is also found that both the onset and the rate of thermal softening of the composite depend critically on the applied strain rate. Owing to thermal softening of the glassy particles, the strain-rate sensitivity of the composite is reduced.
United States policy and Palestine: Oslo, the Intifada and erasure:

Does the advent of Barack Obama as president of the US signal a change in US policy towards Israel/Palestine? The US has presented itself as the ‘honest broker’ in attempts at settling the crisis from the late 1960s on, as the history narrated here of these initiatives demonstrates, yet all have foundered, not least on the rocks of Israeli intransigence and US partiality. With Israel’s continuing punitive policy towards Gaza, and insistence, despite US caveats, on building settlements in Palestinian areas, and new housing in Arab East Jerusalem, this article argues that the Palestinians are undergoing a second Nakba, subjected to a process of erasure as a legitimate national entity. Whether Obama’s Cairo speech, in its even-handed approach to both Palestinian and Israeli aspirations, marked a new beginning is proving ever more doubtful. It is time for Palestinians to abandon the pseudo-diplomacy of the past and develop a grassroots-based political struggle.
Anarchies of Youth The Oaten Affair and Colonial Bengal

This article examines the crisis in Calcutta's Presidency College in 1916, when a white professor was assaulted and the college closed down. Focusing on conversations in the vernacular press, Anglo-Indian newspapers and the colonial government, it unpacks the meanings of ‘anarchy’, the word commonly used by all observers to describe the condition of young, middle-class Indian males. By locating this apparent anarchy in the context of nationalist agitation, the internal convulsions of middle-class Bengal, colonial race relations, wartime anxieties, and conflicting understandings of youth as a social phenomenon, it argues that the discourse of anarchy articulated a perception of incompatibility between colonialism and youthfulness that was broadly shared by whites and Indians of diverse political persuasions. At the same time this vision of deviant youth provided a platform on which blame could be assigned, and on which the competing factions of colonial Bengal could attack one another.
Quantifying Political Legitimacy from Twitter

We present a method to quantify the political legitimacy of a populace using public Twitter data. First, we represent the notion of legitimacy with respect to k-dimensional probabilistic topics, automatically culled from the politically oriented corpus. The short tweets are then converted to a feature vector in k-dimensional topic space. Leveraging sentiment analysis, we also consider the polarity of each tweet. Finally, we aggregate a large number of tweets into a final legitimacy score (i.e., L-score) for a populace. To validate our proposal, we conduct an empirical analysis on eight sample countries using related public tweets, and find that some of our proposed methods yield L-scores strongly correlated with those reported by political scientists.
The Combined Approach to Lysis Utilizing Eptifibatide and rt-PA in Acute Ischemic Stroke: The CLEAR Stroke Trial

Background and Purpose— Multiple approaches are being studied to enhance the rate of thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke. Treatment of myocardial infarction with a combination of a reduced-dose fibrinolytic agent and a glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa receptor antagonist has been shown to improve the rate of recanalization versus fibrinolysis alone. The combined approach to lysis utilizing eptifibatide and recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) (CLEAR) stroke trial assessed the safety of treating acute ischemic stroke patients within 3 hours of symptom onset with this combination. Methods— The CLEAR trial was a National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke–funded multicenter, double-blind, randomized, dose-escalation and safety study. Patients were randomized 3:1 to either low-dose rt-PA (tier 1=0.3 mg/kg, tier 2=0.45 mg/kg) plus eptifibatide (75 μg/kg bolus followed by 0.75 μg/kg per min infusion for 2 hours) or standard-dose rt-PA (0.9 mg/kg). The prim...
Active Volume Models for Medical Image Segmentation

In this paper, we propose a novel predictive model, active volume model (AVM), for object boundary extraction. It is a dynamic “object” model whose manifestation includes a deformable curve or surface representing a shape, a volumetric interior carrying appearance statistics, and an embedded classifier that separates object from background based on current feature information. The model focuses on an accurate representation of the foreground object's attributes, and does not explicitly represent the background. As we will show, however, the model is capable of reasoning about the background statistics thus can detect when is change sufficient to invoke a boundary decision. When applied to object segmentation, the model alternates between two basic operations: 1) deforming according to current region of interest (ROI), which is a binary mask representing the object region predicted by the current model, and 2) predicting ROI according to current appearance statistics of the model. To further improve robustness and accuracy when segmenting multiple objects or an object with multiple parts, we also propose multiple-surface active volume model (MSAVM), which consists of several single-surface AVM models subject to high-level geometric spatial constraints. An AVM's deformation is derived from a linear system based on finite element method (FEM). To keep the model's surface triangulation optimized, surface remeshing is derived from another linear system based on Laplacian mesh optimization (LMO) , . Thus efficient optimization and fast convergence of the model are achieved by solving two linear systems. Segmentation, validation and comparison results are presented from experiments on a variety of 2-D and 3-D medical images.