cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Building upon existing evidence to shape future research endeavors.

Purpose. The identification, retrieval, and critical evaluation of biomedical literature to inform the development of future research efforts are discussed. Summary. A literature search should be designed with the consideration of the desired scope of the information, discipline, or therapeutic area; the nature of the publication or presentation; the ease of full-text documents; and the frequency of updates. Published literature, as well as research abstracts and clinical trial registries, are good sources of information for investigators. Building upon the past efforts of others may give insight into study design techniques that are of particular value, areas in which the literature is lacking, and potential research pitfalls that should be avoided. Early research efforts are often susceptible to methodological flaws, small sample sizes, or poor reporting approaches. Reviewing the research literature can uncover these and other suboptimal study approaches. Variables that can influence study results, such as sex, age, health status, concomitant diseases and medications, medical history, economic status, and disease severity, should be anticipated and minimized. The acronym PICO (patients, intervention, comparison, and outcomes) is commonly used to describe the integral steps of constructing a study. Alterations that may need to be made to improve the study may include broadening inclusion criteria, prolonging the length of the enrollment period, increasing sample size or number of study centers, and lengthening the follow-up period. Conclusion. A thorough review and analysis of the literature can aid one in avoiding duplication of completed or current research projects. A survey of the research landscape can also ensure the novelty of the research question, as well as determine methods that may be adapted to meet the study design needs.
Emergence from what? Comments on Sabbagh & Gelman.

Sabbagh & Gelman (S&G) present an insightful criticism of the emergentist approach to language acquisition. The analysis takes as its starting point an expressed frustration with the fact that emergentism is not packaged as a single theory or formalism. As a result, S&G decide to focus their critical attention on a particularly strong version of emergentism in which, ‘only domain-general tools are required to account for language development.’ This strong formulation of the emergentist position matches up well with the disembodied connectionism of the 1980s (Rumelhart & McClelland, 1986). However, it misrepresents the richer expressions of emergentism being developed by the authors of this volume. In particular, this ‘strong’ version fails to properly appreciate the degree to which emergentists view cognition as grounded on the body, the brain, and the social situation.Consider a simple example from phonological development. There is a universal tendency to avoid sequences of nasal consonants followed by voiceless obstruents, as might arise in forms like ‘manpower.’ This constraint is grounded on the facts of speech production (Huffman, 1993) and figures prominently in recent elaborations of Optimality Theory (Kager, 1999). Languages use at least five phonological processes to deal with this problem. These processes include nasal substitution, post-nasal voicing, denasalization, nasal deletion, and vowel epenthesis. Initially, children may apply a variety of these processes (Bernhardt & Stemberger, 1998). Which processes are preserved and which are dropped out will depend on the shape of the target language, whether it be Indonesian, Quechua, Toba Batak, English, or Kelantan Malay. In the terms used by S&G, each of these phonological processes is a small emergentist ‘buzzsaw’ cutting patterns that are shaped not by some innate cognitive ‘blueprint,’ but by the emergent facts of articulatory phonology.
Outcome Evaluation of a Group Treatment of Sexually Abused and Reactive Children

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of group therapy in treating sexually abused children to prevent recidivism (subsequently re-abused or becoming abusers themselves). Methods: Recidivism rates of 617 children were compared between sexually abused children who received group treatment with those whose parents refused treatment. Additionally, pre- and post- YOQ 30.1 symptom ratings for 47 children were compared to also determine group therapy treatment effectiveness. Results: Sexually abused children who received group therapy treatment, in conjunction with group therapy provided to their parents are statistically the least likely to be revictimized or to become sexual abusers themselves, showing a moderate treatment size effect. Conclusions: Group therapy is an effective treatment for sexually abused children to prevent future recidivism.
Diffusion and convection in vapor crystal growth

Abstract The dynamics of diffusion-limited vapor growth are analyzed for three cases: growth of microscopic crystallites immediately following nucleation, growth of crystals when vapor transport from the source is due entirely to diffusion, and growth of crystals when vapor transport is increased by natural or forced convection. In the convection case the rate-determining step is the diffusion of the vapor through a boundary layer in the gas phase adjacent to the growth interface. Forced convection decreases the thickness of this boundary layer and leads to rapid growth. It is shown that in this case the growth rate is proportional to the first power of the concentration difference between the source and the interface, and to the square root of carrier gas velocity. The growth rate expression contains one adjustable constant which depends on the geometry of the system. The stability of the growth interface is analyzed in terms of constitutional supercooling. It is shown that a heat source must be introduced between the source and the growth interface in order for a plane interface to be stable. The use of forced convection permits the introduction of a virtual heat source at the outer edges of the boundary layer. Crystals of iodine and camphor have been grown in a system in which forced convection makes it possible to control both carrier gas velocity and the temperature gradient at the interface. The observed growth rates exhibit the calculated dependence on concentration difference and gas velocity, provided that the interface gradient is suitably adjusted for smooth growth. A maximum smooth growth rate of 4 mm/hr was achieved for iodine and camphor, a value approaching rates of growth from the melt.
The Relationship Between Chemical Structure and the Logarithm of the Partition Coefficient

The relationship between chemical structure of a solute and the logarithm of its partition coefficient (log P) between the aqueous and a nonpolar phase is poorly understood. We have recently shown that the variation in log P data for 50 low molecular-weight organic solutes in 6 aqueous-non-polar solvents is a function of two structural features. The main feature accounts for ≈60% of the variation in the log P data, and is uniformly weighted in all 6 nonpolar solvent systems. This suggests that it is related to the aqueous solution properties of the solute. The first feature is termed the isotropic surface area, or the surface area associated with the nonpolar portion of the solute when the solute is considered to be a hydrated complex. The hydrated solute complex is termed a supermolecule with waters of hydration occupying hydrogen bonding sites on the functional groups of the solute. Empirical rules for formation of the super molecule are discussed. In this report the analysis is extended to log P data for 72 solutes in the 6 nonpolar solvent systems. The results of the analysis are essentially unchanged for this more extended data set and the second factor is tentatively identified. The second structural feature accounted for ≈35% of the variation in the log P data was not equally weighted in all solvents and is difficult to interpret structurally.
Interfacial reactivity of radionuclides: emerging paradigms from molecular-level observations

Over the past few decades an increasing array of molecular-level analytical probes has provided new detailed insight into mineral and radionuclide interfacial reactivity in subsurface environments. This capability has not only helped change the way mineral surface reactivity is studied but also how field-scale contaminant migration problems are addressed and ultimately resolved. Here we review relatively new interfacial reactivity paradigms and assess their implications for future research directions. Specific examples include understanding the following: the role of site-to-site electron conduction at mineral surfaces and through bulk mineral phases and the effects of local chemical environment on the stability of intermediate species in oxidation-reduction reactions and the importance of mechanistic reaction pathways for defining possible reaction products and thermodynamic driving force. The discussion also includes examples of how detailed molecular/microscopic characterization of field samples has changed the way complex contaminant migration problems are conceptualized and modelled.
A Hybrid State Estimator For Systems With Limited Number of PMUs

This paper is concerned about effective incorporation of a limited number of phasor measurement unit (PMU) measurements into the state estimation solution in order to enhance the state tracking accuracy and speed. This is particularly important for fast changing system conditions when rapid control action may be necessary based on the onset of voltage instability due to an unexpected event. Under such conditions, SCADA-based state estimators may be too slow in capturing the changes in system state due to the low scan rates of the order of seconds. PMU measurements on the other hand provide refresh rates of milliseconds; however, they may not provide full system observability. In this work, a solution is proposed in order to address the lack of observability by the PMU measurements while maintaining fast tracking capability as well as estimation robustness against pseudo-measurement and PMU errors. Robustness is accomplished via the use of the so-called least absolute value estimator which minimizes $L_{1}$ norm of the residuals. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the expected benefits of this implementation on test systems.
Colocalization of proenkephalin peptides in rat brain neurons

A serial, thin-section immunocytochemical study of the anatomical distribution of Leu-enkephalin and BAM-22P (an adrenal proenkephalin peptide) demonstrated that both immunoreactivities occur within the same neurons throughout brain. However, neither peptide immunoreactivity could be observed in neurons containing dynorphin A immunoreactivity. These results are consistent with the possibility that the enkephalin precursor in brain is similar to that sequenced in adrenal, but fail to support the hypothesis that the dynorphin precursor is a major source of Leu-enkephalin in brain.
Integrating Geographic Information Systems for Transportation and Air Quality Models for Microscale Analysis

The inherently spatial nature of transportation-related air quality analysis makes the geographic information system (GIS) particularly well suited to enhancing microscale air quality analysis. GIS provides several features ideal for the type of analysis necessary to determine transportation-related air quality impacts. It is an excellent storage, manipulation, modeling, and mapping tool for spatial data. Spatial information such as street coordinates and accompanying attributes can be exported and manipulated as input to air quality models such as CALINE3 and CAL3QHC. Output from air quality models in the form of pollution concentrations at specified receptor locations can be input to GIS for hot-spot identification, estimation of contributions of off-road mobile sources, and impact analysis. GIS tools applied to air quality analysis include contour generation, classification, thematic analysis, point-in-polygon analysis, and polygon overlay. Several case studies demonstrating these capabilities using TR...
Weight Gain of Summer-Reared Egg-Type Pullets Fed Pellets Versus Mash

In an attempt to increase weight gain of egg-type pullets reared under high summer temperatures, pullets were fed feed in either pellet or mash form. Under high temperature rearing conditions, pelleting the diet did not significantly increase 12 to 20-wk body weight gain when compared to effects of the diet fed in mash form. Under a moderate temperature regimen (21 C), pelleting the diet did significantly increase 12 to 20-wk body weight gain in contrast to the effects of the diet fed in mash form.
Production of extended-shelf life milk by processing pasteurized milk with pulsed electric fields

Abstract Thermally pasteurized milk bulk-shipped to distant places is usually pasteurized for a second time after arrival at the point of consumption. Such double thermal treatment has the potential to reduce the sensory and nutritional quality of milk; hence the use of a nonthermal preservation method was investigated. High-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurized milk was treated with five pulsed electric fields (PEF) having peak electric field of 35 kV/cm and 2.3 μs of pulse width, at a temperature of 65 °C for less than 10 s. PEF treatments were applied either immediately after thermal pasteurization to produce an extended-shelf life product, or eight days after thermal pasteurization to simulate processing after bulk-shipping. Application of PEF immediately after HTST pasteurization extended the milk’s shelf life to 60 d, while PEF-processing after eight days caused a shelf life extension of 78 d, both proving to be successful strategies to extend the shelf life of milk.
Laser power beams obtained by the dynamic selection of emitting elements in an array

A method for partially correcting the spatial coherence of an array of laser beams is described. The method trades far-field intensity for simplistic implementation and array lifetime extension, resulting in a quasicoherent array with features of adaptive optics. An algorithm for implementing the method is described and feasible options for improvement are presented. A computer experiment used the algorithm and fast Fourier transforms to calculate typical far-field intensity distributions of such arrays. The far-field distributions illustrate beam power concentration, beam steering, and (indirectly) extended lifetime of the array.
Impact of Obesity and Weight Loss on Cardiac Performance and Morphology in Adults

Obesity, particularly severe obesity is capable of producing hemodynamic alterations that predispose to changes in cardiac morphology and ventricular function. These include increased cardiac output, left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic and systolic dysfunction of both ventricles. Facilitated by co-morbidities such as hypertension, the sleep apnea/obesity hypoventilation syndrome, and possibly certain neurohormonal and metabolic alterations, these abnormalities may predispose to left and right heart failure, a disorder known as obesity cardiomyopathy.
Quantification of Particle Residence Time in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Computational Fluid Dynamics

Hemodynamic conditions are hypothesized to affect the initiation, growth, and rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), a vascular disease characterized by progressive wall degradation and enlargement of the abdominal aorta. This study aims to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to quantify flow stagnation and recirculation in eight AAAs by computing particle residence time (PRT). Specifically, we used gadolinium-enhanced MR angiography to obtain images of the vessel lumens, which were used to generate subject-specific models. We also used phase-contrast MRI to measure blood flow at supraceliac and infrarenal locations to prescribe physiologic boundary conditions. CFD was used to simulate pulsatile flow, and PRT, particle residence index, and particle half-life of PRT in the aneurysms were computed. We observed significant regional differences of PRT in the aneurysms with localized patterns that differed depending on aneurysm geometry and infrarenal flow. A bulbous aneurysm with the lowest mean infrarenal flow demonstrated the slowest particle clearance. In addition, improvements in particle clearance were observed with increase of mean infrarenal flow. We postulate that augmentation of mean infrarenal flow during exercise may reduce chronic flow stasis that may influence mural thrombus burden, degradation of the vessel wall, and aneurysm growth.
Unusual Presentation of a Dural Arteriovenous Fistula of the Superior Sagittal Sinus and Single Modality Therapy with Onyx

Superior sagittal sinus (SSS) dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVF) are rare and present unique challenges to treatment. Complex, often bilateral, arterial supply and involvement of large volumes of eloquent cortical venous drainage may necessitate multimodality therapy. We report a case of a DAVF of the SSS in a patient who presented uniquely with increasing dizziness and disequilibrium who was treated with a single modality, endovascular embolization with ethyl vinyl alcohol co-polymer (Onyx, EV3, Irvine, CA). The patient underwent staged embolization in 2 sessions with no complications. An angiographic cure was achieved and the patient's symptoms were ameliorated. Single modality therapy with endovascular embolization of a SSS DAVF can be achieved. Careful attention to technique during embolization with Onyx is required, but complete obliteration is possible without the need for adjunctive surgical resection.
Determining the orientation of uniaxially rotating membrane proteins using unoriented samples: a 2H, 13C, AND 15N solid-state NMR investigation of the dynamics and orientation of a transmembrane helical bundle.

Membrane protein orientation has traditionally been determined by NMR using mechanically or magnetically aligned samples. Here we show a new NMR approach that abolishes the need for preparing macroscopically aligned membranes. When the protein undergoes fast uniaxial rotation around the bilayer normal, the 0°-frequency of the motionally averaged powder spectrum is identical to the frequency of the aligned protein whose alignment axis is along the magnetic field. Thus, one can use unoriented membranes to determine the orientation of the protein relative to the bilayer normal. We demonstrate this approach on the M2 transmembrane peptide (M2TMP) of influenza A virus, which is known to assemble into a proton-conducting tetrameric helical bundle. The fast uniaxial rotational diffusion of the M2TMP helical bundle around the membrane normal is characterized via 2H quadrupolar couplings, C−H and N−H dipolar couplings, 13C chemical shift anisotropies, and 1H T1ρ relaxation times. We then show that 15N chemical shi...
Linkage of reduction in 1-phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase activity and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate concentration in human ovarian carcinoma cells treated with quercetin

Abstract Quercetin inhibited 1 -phosphatidylinositol (PI) 4-kinase, EC 2.7.1.67 (PI kinase) activity in a concentration-dependent manner (IC 50 = 4 μ M) in participate extracts from human ovarian carcinoma. In OVCAR-5 cells quercetin produced growth inhibition (IC 50 = 63 μ M) and cytotoxicity (LC 50 = 17 μ M). The growth inhibition by quercetin was accompanied by an 80% decrease in PI kinase activity and a 65% decrease in the concentration of the second messenger, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP 3 ). When human OVCAR-5 cells were plated and expressed their neoplastic proliferative program in the log phase, PI kinase and PI 4-phosphate 5-kinase, EC 2.7.1.68 (PIP kinase) activities coordinately increased to a peak of 5.8- and 4.5-fold, respectively. The results demonstrate for the first time inhibition by quercetin of the enhanced capacity for operation of signal transduction in human ovarian carcinoma cells, thus providing a novel target in cancer cells.
The Ins and Outs of EGFR Asymmetry

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) regulates cell proliferation in many tissues. A new structure of the Drosophila EGFR presented by Alvarado et al. (2010) reveals an asymmetric dimer with the ligand bound to only one subunit. The structure provides a rationale for the receptor's negative cooperativity and necessitates a reconsideration of models for activation of human EGFR.
Gas sensing mechanisms in Sno2 thin films

Thin films of SnO2 prepared by the radio frequency sputtering technique were doped with 1% and 10% Sb2O3,. The films were then tested in a background of synthetic air to understand their response to H2 and CO. For the 1% doped films, the results show the observed sensitivity to be due to a reaction of these trace gases with chemisorbed oxygen ions on the surface of the semiconductor. For the 10% doped SnO2 films, however, the dominant mechanism of sensitivity seems to be the dissociation reaction of these trace gases on the semiconductor surface.
On the possibility of silicon nitride as a ceramic for structural orthopaedic implants. Part I: processing, microstructure, mechanical properties, cytotoxicity

Notwithstanding the good combination of mechanical and tribological properties, the suitability of silicon nitride for application as prosthesis in bone reconstruction or in articular joints replacements is still controversial. This study aims to design and produce three different silicon nitride-based ceramics and to test the materials. In this Part I the microstructure and mechanical properties evidence outstanding characteristics and the cytotoxicity studies confirm that all the materials are extremely inert and biocompatible. In Part II, the wear performance and the wettability and chemical stability against different aqueous media and physiological solutions are investigated and discussed.
No sense of distance: improving cross-cultural communication with context-linked software tools

Many studies have established the difficulties inherent in both cross-cultural and distance communication. Distance work interferes with close collaboration and trust. Physical distance and lack of time zone overlap can exacerbate cross-cultural misunderstandings. Nevertheless, international collaboration over distance is becoming increasingly common in many fields. Scientific collaborations, in particular, are becoming larger and more international in scope. There has been much research in the area of understanding cultural differences, but not as much in how technology might bridge such communication gaps in international scientific collaboration. In an effort to begin to form guidelines for such technology development, we undertook an empirical study of how computer-mediated communication tools facilitated cross-cultural communication over distance and led to greater team effectiveness in an international astrophysics collaboration.
Effect of Steroid Administration on Excretion of $aL-Ketolic Steroids and Sulfur in Cats:

Summary1. Administration of Δ1-cortisone and 9$aL-fluorohydrocortisone changes normal urinary excretion of steroid metabolites, indicating adrenal depression or altered steroid metabolism. 2. Only a small proportion of administered 9$aL-fluorohydrocortisone is excreted as $aL-ketolic metabolites; Δ1-cortisone also is converted to a great extent to non-$aL-ketolic elements. 3. Elemental sulfur has been found to give a positive reaction with blue tetrazolium. This interferes with the quantitative determination of $aL-ketols in extracts of cat urines. 4. The $aL-ketols and sulfur can be separated by chromatography and each determined quantitatively by the blue tetrazolium reaction, using a modified method. 5. Administration of Δ1E and 9$aL-fluorohydrocortisone causes an increase in urinary excretion of sulfur-containing compounds in cats, which leads us to conclude that these steroids alter sulfur metabolism.
Fighting for a Better Navy: An Attempt at Scientific Management (1905-1912):

In the decade before World War I, two American naval officers tried to reform naval manufacturing with the help of Frederick W. Taylor, the foremost management consultant of his time. They failed. Admiral Caspar F. Goodrich was forced to retire in 1909, and Commander Holden A. Evans resigned in 1911 after his career was ruinedfor trying to change a Navy organizational policy by implementing Taylor's management ideas. Yet, the lengthy deliberations about how to manage helped the Navy find its own "best way" prior to World War I. This article, using new evidence, studies their actions as an example in American management history of the eventual success of a consulting effort that initially failed.
Sustainability of ERPS performance outcomes: The role of post-implementation review quality

Abstract This paper examines the nature and timing of post-implementation activities for ERPS adopting firms. We extend both the scope and granularity of prior literature to use seven categories of post-implementation activities theorized in the Nicolaou [Nicolaou, A.I. (2004b), “Quality of post-implementation review for enterprise resource planning systems” Int J Account Inf Syst 5 (May): pp. 25–49.] framework as our unit of analysis. We also examine the timing of those post-implementation events and classify firms in clusters characterizing the timing of such activities. We find that both the nature of post-implementation events and their timing are important for post-implementation change making firms. Specifically, ERPS change firms demonstrate improved differential performance as a result of their use of post-implementation activities that contribute to better system implementation planning and business process effectiveness when undertaken shortly after the initial system implementation. On the other hand, system deployment-related post-implementation activities that typically occur at later stages of system operation appear to have a negative impact on a firm's short-run profitability. Our results should be of interest to ERPS adopting firms considering post-implementation changes. We find that no post-implementation change is universally good just as no timing is universally efficacious. Therefore, firms that match their post-implementation changes appropriately with the best timing for such changes stand to derive differential performance gains over peers that do not. However, some changes are inherently more risky.
Solubility and Henry's law constant for alcohols in water

Abstract A new correlation which provides reliable solubility values down to very, very low concentrations is presented for solubility of alcohols in water. The correlation is based on boiling point temperature of the alcohol and can be used for engineering studies involving health, safety and environmental considerations. Results for water solubility and Henry's law constant are provided for a wide variety of alcohols. Representative solubility values (parts per million by weight) are 74,000 for n -butanol (C 4 H 10 O) and 4.0 for 1-dodecanol (C 12 H 26 O).
Temperature-Humidity Indices as Indicators of Milk Production Losses due to Heat Stress

Meteorological data (1993 to 2004) from 2 public weather stations in Phoenix, Arizona, and Athens, Georgia, were analyzed with test day milk yield data from herds near weather stations to identify the most appropriate temperature-humidity index (THI) to measure losses in milk production due to heat stress in the semiarid climate of Arizona and the humid climate of Georgia. Seven THI with different weightings of dry bulb temperature and humidity were compared. Test-day data were analyzed using 2 models to determine threshold of heat stress and rate of decline of milk production associated with a specific THI. Differences in thresholds of heat stress were found among indices and between regions. Indices with higher weights on humidity were best in the humid climate, whereas indices with larger weights on temperature were the best indicators of heat stress in the semiarid climate. Humidity was the limiting factor of heat stress in humid climates, whereas dry bulb temperature was the limiting factor of heat stress in dry climates.
A principled exploration of coordination models

Coordination is a style of interaction in which information exchange among independent system components is accomplished by means of high-level constructs designed to enhance the degree of decoupling among participants. A decoupled mode of computation is particularly important in the design of mobile systems which emerge dynamically through the composition of independently developed components meeting under unpredictable circumstances and thrust into achieving purposeful cooperative behaviors. This paper examines a range of coordination models tailored for use in mobile computing and shows that the constructs they provide are reducible to simple schema definitions in Mobile UNITY. Intellectually, this exercise contributes to achieving a better operational-level understanding of the relation among several important classes of models of mobility. Pragmatically, this work demonstrates the immediate applicability of Mobile UNITY to the formal specification of coordination constructs supporting mobile computing. Moreover, the resulting schemas are shown to be helpful in reducing the complexity of the formal verification effort.
Palantir: Reseizing Network Proximity in Large-Scale Distributed Computing Frameworks Using SDN

Parallel/Distributed computing frameworks, such as MapReduce and Dryad, have been widely adopted to analyze massive data. Traditionally, these frameworks depend on manual configuration to acquire network proximity information to optimize the data placement and task scheduling. However, this approach is cumbersome, inflexible or even infeasible in largescale deployments, for example, across multiple datacenters. In this paper, we address this problem by utilizing the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) capability. We build Palantir, an SDN service specific for parallel/distributed computing frameworks to abstract the proximity information out of the network. Palantir frees the framework developers/ administrators from having to manually configure the network. In addition, Palantir is flexible because it allows different frameworks to define the proximity according to the framework-specific metrics. We design and implement a datacenter-aware MapReduce to demonstrate Palantir's usefullness. Our evaluation shows that, based on Palantir, datacenter-aware MapReduce achieves siginficant performance improvement.
Reduction of the severity of canine osteoarthritis by prophylactic treatment with oral doxycycline

Objective In vitro studies have indicated that levels of neutral metalloproteinases in osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage are elevated and that doxycycline (doxy) inhibits collagenolytic and gelatinolytic activity in extracts of OA cartilage. The purpose of the present study was to test the effect of oral doxy administration on the severity of cartilage degeneration in OA. Methods OA was induced in 12 adult mongrel dogs by transection of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) 2 weeks after dorsal root ganglionectomy. Six dogs received doxy orally from the day after ACL transection until they were killed 8 weeks later; the other 6 served as untreated OA controls. Results The unstable knee of each untreated dog exhibited extensive full-thickness cartilage ulceration of the medial femoral condyle. In sharp contrast, cartilage on the distal aspect of the femoral condyle of the unstable knee was grossly normal in 2 doxy-treated dogs, and exhibited only thinning and/or surface irregularity in the others. Degenerative cartilage lesions on the medial trochlear ridge, superficial fibrillation of the medial tibial plateau, and osteophytosis were, however, unaffected by doxy treatment. Collagenolytic activity and gelatinolytic activity in cartilage extracts from OA knees of untreated dogs were 5-fold and 4-fold greater, respectively, than in extracts from dogs given doxy. Conclusion Prophylactic administration of doxy markedly reduced the severity of OA in weight-bearing regions of the medial femoral condyle. It remains to be determined whether administration of doxy after OA changes have developed is also effective.
The in vivo transformation of phospholipid vesicles to a particle resembling HDL in the rat

Summary Phospholipid vesicles containing 14 C-labeled cholesteryl oleate or lecithin were injected intravenously into rats. A change in the physical properties of the vesicles was observed in plasma shortly after injection. The radioactive markers became associated with a particle similar to high density lipoprotein (HDL) in density and size. A similar change occurred when vesicles were incubated with plasma in vitro. The turnover in plasma of labeled cholesteryl oleate vesicles was studied and found to disappear exponentially over a 10-hour period. No hydrolysis of labeled cholesteryl oleate was observed in plasma, but uptake and hydrolysis did occur in liver.
Modeling for the Development and Evaluation of Strategies for Controlling Flow Instabilities in Transonic Compressors

A gas turbine engine consists of three primary components: a compressor, a combustion chamber, and a turbine. The operating range, performance, and reliability of gas turbine engines are limited by aerodynamic instabilities that occur in the compressor at low mass flow rates. Two of such compressor instabilities are rotating stall and surge. The stabilization of compression systems by means of active control has been demonstrated on several research compressors using different actuators such as inlet guide vanes, bleed valves, and air injection to manipulate the compressor flow field. This paper presents validated models of the steady and unsteady behaviors of air injection in high speed axial flow compressors that can be used for feasibility studies and control algorithm development. The steady air injection model consists of a control volume analysis coupled with wind tunnel measurements to characterize the changes in flow profiles entering the compressor and a streamline curvature analysis to model the response of the compressor blade rows to the different inlet span-wise profiles generated by the jet actuator. The steady air injection model was validated with experimentally measured span-wise profiles and compressor speed-lines, and then used to study the effect of hot air injection on the performance of a transonic compressor. The results show that injecting hot air into a transonic compressor has a potential increase in the operating range (i.e., decrease in the stalling mass flow rate) and a decrease in the total pressure rise across the transonic compressor. A modified theoretical stall inception model for high speed machines with air injection actuation is also presented. The compressible rotating stall inception model is a two-dimensional linearized stability model and pre-stall dynamics measurements from a single stage transonic compressor were used to validate the model. The compressible rotating stall inception model is an important tool that can be used for studying the effects of compressor design parameters on stability during compressor redesign, and for designing and evaluating feedback controllers.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Commentary on “Disability Trajectories at the End of Life: A Countdown Model” The Problems With Time-to-Death as a Predictor of Disability

ThE study of disability trajectories at the end of life is both interesting and important. Everyone dies, and most adults live well into advanced ages in which they experience some level of physical decline before death. This period of decline is relevant to us as individuals, obviously, but also to society, which ultimately bears much of the financial burden of care via Medicare and Medicaid expenditures. Thus, it is important to understand the disability process in late life. In particular, concepts like “terminal drop” and “terminal decline” are of interest because, if we could recognize who is likely to experience which type of pattern, we might be able to develop interventions to improve quality of death, and we might be able to better predict end-of-life expenditures. The recent paper by Wolf et al. is intriguing for these reasons. In brief, the authors use time-to-death (TTD) as a predictor of disability trajectories. The key goal is to determine the number and shape of disability trajectories that immediately precede death, ultimately estimating the prevalence of those who experience terminal drop, terminal decline, and other patterns. Although I think the methodology is interesting and certainly meticulous, there are two key problems with studying disability trajectories as a function of TTD that should make one cautious when employing such an approach. First, treating TTD as a predictor of disability patterns that precede it confuses the direction of causality. Second, the approach suggested by the authors cannot yield any more useful information than a model that does not confuse the direction of causality can.
C.W. modelocking of a GaInAsP diode laser

Active c.w. modelocking of a GaInAsP double-heterostructure laser diode operating in an external cavity is reported. 18 ps pulses (f.w.h.m.) are obtained at a repetition rate of 2.1 GHz and a lasing wavelength of 1210 nm. The pulses were measured by autocorrelation using s.h.g. in LiIO3. They are the shortest pulses ever reported for a c.w. laser diode.
A cascaded second-order approach to computing third-order scattering of noncollinear acoustic beams

Abstract A theoretical development of the third-order nonlinear scattering of sound from two noncollinear ultrasonic beams produced by baffled piston sources is presented. The third-order intermodulation (IM3) frequency components are derived by exploiting cascaded second-order nonlinear effects where the quadratic nonlinear interaction of second-order frequency components with first-order (primary) frequency components is considered. It is shown that cascaded second-order interactions generate intermodulation frequency components that are equivalent to those generated by cubic nonlinear effects. Comparison of measured and modeled amplitude sweeps demonstrate the three-to-one gain in decibels of the amplitudes of the third-order intermodulation frequency components to that of the primary frequency components. Measurements are also presented for the farfield interaction of distantly spaced sources, which results in a highly focused ultrasonic parametric array. Also considered are the nearfield interaction of closely spaced sources, which results in scattering, with good agreement to the theory.
On Public Organizations in Ghana: What Differentiates Good Performers From Poor Performers?

: Public sector reform programs implemented across Africa, including the World Bank's ‘first’ and ‘second’ generation reforms, are based on the assumption that all public organizations are inefficient. This problematic assumption has had significant implications for policy in Africa. By failing to recognize that not all public organizations perform poorly, we ignore any potential lessons that could have been learnt from the experiences of organizations that have managed to perform effectively under the same social, political, economic and institutional environment. This paper uses Ghana as a case study to examine whether there are significant differences in the characteristics of poor and good performing public organizations. It is found that good and poor performing organizations in Ghana were significantly different in two respects: remuneration and hiring criteria.
WISDOM from Light-Weight Information Retrieval

This paper presents a light-weight information retrieval and analysis architecture that addresses the complex task of gathering, combining, and storing documents to enable indepth analysis. The growing interest in mining the Internet for conversation topics, opinions, and influencers has resulted in many free and commercial products. At the heart of such capability are two core technologies: information retrieval and text mining. While search engines and technologies like RSS make gathering information easier, they, like text mining, still require a significant amount of consideration when applying them in mission critical situations. For example, different search engines retrieve irrelevant results, and it is difficult to impossible to know that all relevant results have been found. Also, doing significant analysis of such documents will usually require the fusion of other information sources - a task that most search engines, at least, do not support. We have developed a system and architecture for light-weight document and information retrieval to enable focused and deep analysis of text, authors and publishers, and the networks that they form between each other through citations and other reference and co-occurrence analysis. While it is both intuitive and obvious that such a system is necessary for in-depth analysis, it is nontrivial as to how to construct such a system out of the many moving pieces, data sources and technologies. We show both the architecture, discuss the decisions steps, and demonstrate analysis that are enabled by the system.
Immunological Basis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Role of the Microcirculation

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the intestine and/or colon of unknown etiology in which patients suffer from severe diarrhea, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, fever, and weight loss. Active episodes of IBD are characterized by vasodilation, venocongestion, edema, infiltration of large numbers of inflammatory cells, and erosions and ulcerations of the bowel. It is becoming increasingly apparent that chronic gut inflammation may result from a dysregulated immune response toward components of the normal intestinal flora, resulting in a sustained overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines and mediators. Many of these Th1 and macrophage-derived cytokines and lipid metabolites are known to activate microvascular endothelial cells, thereby promoting leukocyte recruitment into the intestinal interstitium. This review discusses the basic immune mechanisms involved in the regulation of inflammatory responses in the gut and describes how a breakdown in this protective response initiates chronic gut inflammation.
A possible cause of termination of cell growth in the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum.

Abstract A macromolecular inhibitor of cell division can be washed off exponentially growing as well as stationary slime mold amoebae. However, stationary cells appear to have four times as much mitotic inhibiting activity as the same number of exponential cells. Removal of such an inhibitor by washing cells during exponential growth delayed the onset of stationary phase and resulted in cultures with a final cell density double that normally attained. Addition of a partially purified fraction of division inhibitor to rapidly growing cells results in the abrupt termination of cell division. It is also demonstrated that conditioned medium contains sufficient nutrients for cell growth. Therefore, the division inhibitor may play a significant role in the cessation of growth. Protein content of amoebae increases during vegetative growth, reaching a maximum at stationary phase. The effect of cyclic AMP on cell division was examined. A hypothesis on the mechanism of action and adaptive significance of the division inhibitor is discussed: A macromolecular mitotic inhibitor begins to accumulate on the cell surface during vegetative growth. When the inhibitor saturates the cell surface, mitosis is prevented. This inhibition may occur through activation of adenyl cyclase.
Spitzer Uncovers Active Galactic Nuclei Missed by Optical Surveys in Seven Late-Type Galaxies

We conducted a high resolution mid-infrared spectroscopic investigation using Spitzer of 32 latetype (Sbc or later) galaxies that show no definitive signatures of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) in their optical spectra in order to search for low luminosity and/or embedded AGN. These observations reveal the presence of the high ionization [NeV] 14µm and/or 24µm line in 7 sources, providing strong evidence for AGNs in these galaxies. Taking into account the variable sensitivity of our observations, we find that the AGN detection rate based on mid-infrared diagnostics in optically normal late-type galaxies is � 30%, implying an AGN detection rate in late-type galaxies that is possibly 4 times larger than what optical spectroscopic observations alone suggest. We demonstrate using photoionization models with both an input AGN and an extreme EUV-bright starburst ionizing radiation field that the observed mid-infrared line ratios in our 7 AGN candidates cannot be replicated unless an AGN contribution, in some cases as little as 10% of the total galaxy luminosity, is included. These models show that when the fraction of the total luminosity due to the AGN is low, optical diagnostics are insensitive to the presence of the AGN. In this regime of parameter space, the mid-infrared diagnostics offer a powerful tool for uncovering AGN missed by optical spectroscopy. The AGN bolometric luminosities in our sample inferred using our [NeV] line luminosities range from � 3×10 41 ergs s −1 to � 2×10 43 ergs s −1 . Assuming that the AGN is radiating at the Eddington limit, this range corresponds to a lower mass limit for the black hole that ranges from � 3×10 3 M⊙ to as high as � 1.5×10 5 M⊙. These lower mass limits however do not put a strain on the well-known relationship between the black hole mass and the host galaxy’s stellar velocity dispersion established in predominantly early-type galaxies. Our findings add to the growing evidence that black holes do form and grow in low-bulge environments and that they are significantly more common than optical studies indicate.
Hydrogen peroxide cytotoxicity in LLC-PK1 cells: A role for iron

Reactive oxygen metabolites have been postulated to play an important role in both toxic and ischemic forms of acute renal tubular epithelial injury. In the present study, we examined the effect of enzymatically generated hydrogen peroxide on LLC-PK1 cells, a renal proximal tubule cell line. Exposure of LLC-PK1 cells to glucose and glucose oxidase (GO; which generates hydrogen peroxide) resulted in cytotoxicity (as measured by trypan blue exclusion) which was dose dependent and increased linearly over time to 81 +/- 5% at 180 minutes (8 +/- 1% at time 0; mean +/- SEM, N = 3 to 7). Catalase (which decomposes hydrogen peroxide) completely prevented the cytotoxicity, confirming that the toxicity was due to hydrogen peroxide production. To assess whether the hydrogen peroxide toxicity was a direct effect or mediated by other toxic oxygen metabolites, several scavengers of reactive oxygen metabolites and iron chelators were used. Superoxide dismutase (a scavenger of superoxide) had no effect. Deferoxamine (DFO), an iron chelator, provided marked protection (GO alone 45.9 +/- 4.4%; GO + DFO 13.0 +/- 2.0%; control 7.1 +/- 1.2%; N = 15 to 17, P less than 0.001). Pretreatment with DFO (1 hr, then 2 washes to remove DFO before GO addition) also markedly inhibited the cytotoxicity, suggesting that DFO's effect was due to iron chelation. Two other metal chelators (dihydroxybenzoic acid and 1,10-phenanthroline) also significantly decreased the GO-induced cytotoxicity. However, three of four hydroxyl radical scavengers used (mannitol, dimethyl sulfoxide, sodium benzoate) did not significantly decrease cell death. Only dimethylthiourea provided protection.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)