cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Corneal epithelial and aqueous humor acidification during in vivo contact lens wear in rabbits.

PURPOSE Based on contact lens-induced stromal acidification of the cornea, it has been suggested that the corneal epithelial and endothelial cells also become acidotic during contact lens wear. This alleged acidification may have a role in altered cell appearance and metabolism during contact lens wear. This study investigated the effects of anoxia, carbon dioxide retention, and contact lens gas transmissibility on the epithelial and aqueous humor pH in living rabbits. METHODS Epithelial intracellular pH (pHi) and aqueous humor pH were fluorophotometrically measured with a pH sensitive-dye (BCECF) during contact lens wear or exposure to various gas mixtures. RESULTS Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) lens wear acidified epithelial cells by preventing CO2 efflux and by inducing hypoxia. Increasing lens oxygen transmissibility decreased epithelial acidification. After initiation of rigid, gas-permeable (RGP) lens wear or CO2-air exposure, pHi dropped transiently and then recovered partially. This recovery of pHi was not observed during anoxia, whether induced by PMMA lens wear or exposure to 100% N2. The aqueous humor also acidified during PMMA lens wear, a phenomenon not observed during RGP lens wear. Changes in aqueous pH were smaller, slower, and delayed when compared to their epithelial counterparts. CONCLUSIONS Hypoxic contact lens wear acidifies the corneal epithelium and aqueous humor. The aqueous humor pH change indicates a probable endothelial acidification during hypoxic contact lens wear; the pH changes are caused by two separate and additive effects, CO2 retention and hypoxic acidosis. Increases in the oxygen transmissibility of the lens decrease the cellular acidosis, which might minimize cellular complications arising from contact lens wear. We estimate that a lens with an oxygen transmissibility (Dk/L) of 300 x 10(-11) (cm/sec)(ml O2/ml x mm Hg) is needed to prevent epithelial pHi changes in the open eye. In contrast, lenses with Dk/L as low as 18 x 10(-9) (cm/sec)(ml O2/ml x mm Hg) can prevent aqueous humor pH changes.
Fracture Toughness Determination of Rocks with Core-Based Specimens

Rock and geomaterial specimens are usually extracted in circular cores. KIc derived from various core specimens is discussed. A newly developed fracture toughness test specimen, semi-circular in shape and contains an edge-crack, is elaborated. The fracture load and the fracture energy of a typical layered rock are measured with static tests, and the fracture toughness is determined using a stress intensity factor method, a compliance method and a J-integral based method. A minimum dimensional requirement is proposed for plane strain fracture toughness. Application of KIc in fragmentation modeling is illustrated. Mixed mode fracture specimen is also presented.
TREE DEMOGRAPHY PLOTS: A NEGLECTED RESOURCE FOR SYSTEMATIC AND CONSERVATION RESEARCH

The pantropical network of large tree demography plots coordinated by the Smithsonian’s Center for Tropical Forest Science has now gone global, as part of the Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatories. Some four million tropical trees, representing about 10,000 species, are now tagged, provisionally identified and periodically recensused. Some 3,000 species are captured in the six plots within Malesia. These include species rarely collected and many that are now endangered. Easy location of trees for periodic examination for fertile material and detailed ecological data, together with seasoned in-country research teams, provide unique opportunities for research collaboration.
Coma in Thyroid Storm: Review of Aggregated English-Language Case Reports.

Context Coma is a serious manifestation of thyroid storm (TS) about which little is known. Objective To describe the features, duration, treatment response, and prognosis of coma in the setting of TS. Design Aggregate analysis of individual English-language case reports of coma in the setting of TS from 1935 to January 2019. Setting Hospitals. Patients Sixty-five cases were identified, 29 from case reports and 36 from case series. Interventions Antithyroid drugs, corticosteroids, beta-blockers, iodine, intubation, plasmapheresis, antibiotics, thyroidectomy, radioiodine, dialysis, and l-carnitine. Main Outcome Measures Awakening and death rates overall and in relation to administered treatments, day of coma presentation, and time from coma onset; symptoms associated with coma; TS and coma scales; thyroid and cerebrospinal laboratory tests; electroencephalogram; brain imaging; and autopsy results. Results Mortality was 38% in the setting of TS-related coma, 11% during the years 1978 to 2019 compared with 70% for 1935 to 1977. Both awakening and death commonly occurred within the first 2 days of coma onset. Reduction in total and free T4 values, and possibly also total T3 value, correlated with awakening from coma. Lower death rates were associated with use of antithyroid drugs, corticosteroids, beta-blockers, and intubation. Plasmapheresis was associated with awakening in 67% of cases but not with lower death rates. Conclusions Prognosis of coma associated with TS remains poor. Current guidelines for the early use of plasmapheresis in unresolving TS are advocated and should be considered urgently at the point of confusion or delirium in an effort to abort coma.
Edge Exclusion Tests for Graphical Model Selection: Complex Gaussian Vectors and Time Series

We consider the problem of inferring the conditional independence graph (CIG) of a stationary multivariate Gaussian time series. A $p$ -variate Gaussian time series graphical model associated with an undirected graph with $p$ vertices is defined as the family of time series that obey the conditional independence restrictions implied by the edge set of the graph. In some existing methods, partial coherence has been used as a test statistic for graphical model selection. To test inclusion/exclusion of a given edge in the graph, the test is applied at distinct frequencies, requiring multiple tests and leading to a loss in test power. The nonparametric method of Matsuda uses the Kullback-Leibler divergence measure to define a test statistic which does not need multiple testing to test between two competing models. In this paper we propose a generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) based edge exclusion test statistic that also does not need multiple testing. It is computationally significantly faster than the method of Matsuda, and simulations show that we achieve comparable power levels. Our proposed approach is based on a novel formulation of a GLRT based edge exclusion test for $p$ -variate complex Gaussian graphical models (CGGMs); this result is also of independent interest. The computational complexity of the proposed statistic is $\mathcal {O}(p^3)$ compared to $\mathcal {O}(p^5)$ for the existing result. We also apply our time series graphical model selection method to a foreign exchange data set consisting of monthly trends of foreign exchange rates of 10 countries.
The Power of Charisma: Investigating the Neglected Citizen–Politician Linkage in Hugo Chávez's Venezuela:

Charisma has long been considered a powerful tool for leaders worldwide to rise to greatness. Yet we have given less attention to the way in which charismatic leaders develop deep, unmediated emoti...
Graduated Life Explore: An Interactive Visualization Tool to Explore the Comprehensive Benefits of a Timely Graduation

This Research Work in Progress paper presents preliminary results on an interactive visualization tool intended for university students to explore different motivational reasons to graduate from college timely. The statistics on the number of students who graduate from university “on-time” makes one wonder if the four-year completion rate is a myth. In reality, some statistics show less than a third graduate in four years, and almost half graduate by six years. Several reasons lead to needing more years to graduate. For example, graduation may be delayed due to the extra time required to repeat a failed or dropped course. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive methods for college students to analyze datasets on graduation rates and the effects on other aspects of their lives. In this paper, we examine whether an interactive visualization tool can inform students about the short-term and long-term life effects for extending their graduation from four years to five, six, or more years. The benefit for students to use this tool is to give them a holistic understanding of how their current time in college affects future opportunities. In addition, college mentors and advisers can share this tool with students during advising sessions. We assume our primary audience is a computer science major from “Anonymized University” and aggregate various datasets to design and implement an interactive visualization tool, called “Graduated Life Explore.” This tool helps students explore different motivational reasons on the advantages of graduating, as well as the possible risks and disadvantages of delaying their college graduation. We discuss several benefits including net costs, extracurricular activities, financial aid possibilities, career opportunities, retirement plans, health insurance, and more. These reasons are represented and encoded into our interactive visualization tool which employs multiple coordinated views on different datasets including timeline pie charts with interactive pop out charts. We explore the effectiveness of this interactive visualization tool through a usability study on students at “Anonymized University.”
Implicit evaluations of moral agents reflect intent and outcome

Abstract Explicit (directly measured) evaluations of moral agents reflect both the externally observable consequences of actions and inferences about the agent's hidden mental states: Negative outcomes without negative intent (e.g., someone getting killed accidentally) and negative intent without a negative outcome (e.g., a failed attempt to kill someone) are each sufficient for negative explicit evaluations of a moral agent to emerge. Across two studies (final N = 826; Study 2 preregistered), we newly investigated implicit (indirectly measured) evaluations of moral agents, as assessed by an Implicit Association Test (IAT). Study 1 included 3 between-participant conditions: accident (negative outcome + positive intent), attempt (positive outcome + negative intent), and harm (negative outcome + negative intent), each compared to a harmless (positive outcome + positive intent) control. Study 2 had a 2-by-2 design, in which outcome (positive vs. negative) and intent (positive vs. negative) were manipulated orthogonally, with targets in each condition compared to a neutral control whose actions did not carry moral implications. Mirroring prior findings obtained using explicit measures, implicit evaluations of moral agents tracked both manifest outcomes (e.g., someone falling from a bridge) and inferences about latent mental states (e.g., the intent to let someone fall off a bridge) in both paradigms. These results are difficult to reconcile with dual-process theories positing that implicit evaluations arise from low-level associative learning but they are readily accounted for by propositional theories according to which implicit evaluations are sensitive to high-level inferential reasoning.
Chapter 18 – Using the Luenberger Observer in Motion Control

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses several applications of the Luenberger observer in motion-control systems. The first area to consider is the performance requirements of the application. Machines that demand rapid response to command changes, stiff response to disturbances, or both will benefit from an observer. The observer can reduce phase lag in the servo loop, allowing higher gains, which improve command and disturbance response. The second factor to consider is the availability of computational resources to implement the observer. Observers almost universally rely on digital control. However, if the system uses a simple analog controller, putting in place a hardware structure that can support an observer will require a large effort. Luenberger observers are most effective when the position sensor produces limited noise. Sensor noise is often a problem in motion-control systems. Independent of the feedback sensor, most motion-control systems generate phase lag in the control loop when they derive velocity from position. Velocity is commonly derived from position using simple differences.
A review of the impact on the ecosystem after ionizing irradiation: wildlife population.

On 26 April 1986, reactor 4 at the Chernobyl power plant underwent a catastrophic failure leading to core explosions and open-air fires. On 11 March 2011, a combination of earthquake and tsunami le...
A Brave New World: Terminal Weaning of Mechanical Ventilation Outside of the ICU in a Pediatric Patient

Introduction The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is the most common site of death for hospitalized children worldwide (Butler Pediatrics 2015). Over two-thirds of PICU deaths result from discontinuation of life-sustaining therapies, such as mechanical ventilation (MV) (Burns Crit Care Med 2000). Mechanically ventilated patients are generally managed in the PICU by critical care clinicians. However, some patients and families prefer returning to a more familiar setting for end of life care. We describe a rapidly planned and implemented transfer of a pediatric patient from the ICU to …
Impact of drug utilization management policy on prescription opioid use in Georgia Medicaid.

Objective To examine the effectiveness of changes in opioid prescription policies on opioid prescribing and health services utilization rates in Georgia Medicaid. Methods This study used data from the Georgia Medicaid patient enrollment, medical and pharmacy claims database from 2009 to 2014.We performed an interrupted time series analysis to examine the effect of the policy changes. Outcome measures assessed the trends in the indicators of potential inappropriate prescribing practices, including overlapping prescriptions of opioid + opioid, opioid + benzodiazepine and opioids + buprenorphine/naloxone, as well as health services utilization, including hospitalization, mean length of stay, outpatient office and emergency room visits. Key findings A total of 712 342 opioid users aged 18-64 were included in the study. The policies were associated with significant decreasing trend of opioid + opioid (-0.0011; 95% CI = -0.0020, -0.0002) and opioid + benzodiazepines (-0.001; 95% CI = -0.0022, -0.0006) overlapping while associated with a significant immediate decrease in and opioids + buprenorphine/naloxone after the implementations (-0.0014; 95% CI = -0.0025, -0.0003). Significant immediate decrease in level of office visits and ER visits were seen with the policy implementation (office visit: -0.2939; 95% CI = -0.5528, -0.0350, ER visit: -0.0740, 95% CI = -0.1294, -0.0185). The policies were not shown to be significantly associated with hospitalization and the mean length of inpatient stay. Conclusions Our analysis suggests that Georgia Medicaid opioid policies were useful to contain inappropriate opioid use.
“A sentencing”: veteran educators’ perceptions of a constriction of English learner students’ opportunities across grade spans

Recent research suggests that English learner (EL) classification can impact students in both positive and negative ways. We do not know enough, however, about what contexts and features of EL educ...
“I’m Not Letting Nothing Stop Me This Time”: Transitions Among Adult Learners Using the Tennessee Reconnect Grant:

Objective: States increasingly create promise programs to increase college enrollment and degree attainment. The objective of this study was to understand the experiences of adult learners using th...
Improving lung function in adolescents with CF by tracking annual rate of lung function decline.

Background For patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), sustaining lung function through the adolescent years is crucial to slow the progressive decline that leads to significant morbidity and early mortality. This holds true for patients with high per cent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s (ppFEV1), as they may receive less vigilant monitoring and treatment. Early identification of lung function decline followed by aggressive treatment can lead to preservation of lung function. Intervention The Emory+Children’s Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Program implemented multiple quality improvement (QI) initiatives to identify and aggressively treat adolescent patients with a rapid decline in lung function. These initiatives included (1) lung zones to categorise and highlight lung function decline, (2) individual lung decline tables for quick reference, (3) a lung health algorithm to encourage uniformity, (4) a rapid decliner checklist to identify potential reasons for individual decline and (5) an automated individual patient-level data report and centre scorecard. We tested these interventions with plan–do–study–act cycles and refined as needed. Results Implementation of these QI initiatives resulted in overall improvement in lung function and slowing of lung function decline among adolescents with CF . This improvement could be attributed to the more standardised and proactive approach to decreases in lung function and the increased clinician attention to patients with rapid decline, especially for patients with high baseline ppFEV1.
Near death experience: neuroscience perspective.

The cycle of life starts with conception and progresses to birth, maturity, old age, and death. We know a significant amount about what happens during most of these stages; however, the final step, death, defies many of our attempts to study and comprehend it. The cultural rituals that surround death attest to our fascination with this concluding stage of life. Cultures often look at death as a transitional stage that sends us on to the next stage of existence, a new reality and consciousness (1). As such, it is only natural that we have significant interest in near-death experiences, where individuals who experienced life-threatening situations report identifiable features of their dying process.
An extended transaction model approach for multilevel secure transaction processing

Multilevel secure transaction processing has been well explored in the past decade. Despite this research, the proposed secure concurrency control protocols are not completely satisfactory because of the stringent constraints imposed by multilevel security. In this paper, we argue that modeling a transaction as an extended transaction model could significantly reduce the performance penalty. We accomplish this by minimizing (1) the probability of restarting a high security level transaction; and (2) the portion of the transaction to be reexecuted, when a restart becomes inevitable. In particular, we exploit the non-flat nature of transactions by identifying dependencies among various components of a transaction and portraying a transaction as an advanced transaction model. We demonstrate, via formal proofs, that our approach preserves the semantics of the transaction, and our concurrency control algorithm guarantees serializability.
Calcium modulation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) response and electrographic seizures in immature hippocampus.

Abstract Recordings from the CA3 region of hippocampal slices indicate a developmental change in the divalent cation sensitivity of the response elicited by N- methyl- d -aspartate (NMDA) application. In parallel experiments a developmental difference is demonstrated in the capacity of extracellular calcium to modulate electrographic seizure generation. Calcium modulation of the NMDA-elicited response may contribute to the pronounced capacity of immature hippocampus to generate electrographic seizures. Under these conditions activity dependent changes in extracellular calcium could have a greater influence on ion flow produced by activation of the NMDA receptor. The possibility that changes in the receptor isoform may occur during development would have widespread implications for normal cognitive functions and dysfunctions during brain maturation.
Prolonging software life

Summary form only given, as follows. In his seminal book, "The Unfinished Revolution," Michael Dertouzos eloquently argues that the promise of the digital revolution is yet to be fully realized. In particular, the ability to harness the power of the computer to significantly improve the quality of life for the vast majority of humankind remains unfinished. Dertouzos proposes a new paradigm of computing where digital access points would be ubiquitous in the environment thus allowing 'pervasive computing' to exist. His notions of what needed to be developed for such a vision are captured in his description of MIT?s Project Oxygen. Central to this vision is the concept of personal adaptive software. In this case, each person would 'carry' his/her own software everywhere. The software would be able to sense location, the presence of other 'people,' and leverage this knowledge to perform its tasks. It would reconfigure itself and make the appropriate adaptations depending on what functions are required at that moment in time. It would be backwards and forwards compatible. Because it evolves, the software would never have to be replaced. Indeed, this software would have a very long life. This radical view of software would require computer scientists to revisit core software engineering concepts such as compilation and interpretation. Indeed, it challenges the very notion of what it means to release a version of a software system. In this talk, the author explores these challenges and propose new research directions that move us closer to prolonging software life.
Entitlements and fairness

Abstract Under three different rules for allocation of initial income we elicit experimental subjects’ preferences for income redistribution using an incentive compatible elicitation mechanism. The three income allocation rules are designed to capture preferences for distributive justice among subjects. The concern is motivated by claims in some of the experimental economics literature that non-self-interested motives often underlie individual behavior. We cannot reject self-interest in favor of any redistribution motives based on our observations. Almost all individuals chose the income distribution which maximized their own income — high income individuals chose no redistribution and low income individuals chose perfect equality in income distribution.
Modeling linguistic segment and turn boundaries for n-best rescoring of spontaneous speech.

Language modeling, especially for spontaneous speech, often suffers from a mismatch of utterance segmentations between training and test conditions. In particular, training often uses linguistically-based segments, whereas testing occurs on acoustically determined segments, resulting in degraded performance. We present an N-best rescoring algorithm that removes the effect of segmentation mismatch. Furthermore, we show that explicit language modeling of hidden linguistic segment boundaries is improved by including turn-boundary events in the model. 1. THE SEGMENTATION PROBLEM IN LANGUAGE MODELING One of the problems encountered in speech recognition on continuous, spontaneous speech is the segmentation of long waveforms. Because current recognizers prefer short waveform segments for best performance and to limit computational resources, conversation-length waveforms are typically pre-segmented using simple acoustic criteria, such as locations of long pauses and turn switches. This creates several problems for language modeling: The segmentation algorithm used (including its parameters) influences the statistics embodied in the language model (LM), creating a potential mismatch between training and test set. Strictly speaking, one would have to resegment the training data, recreate the word-level transcriptions, and retrain the language model every time the segmentation process is modified. The acoustic segmentation typically yields units that are not linguistically coherent, and hence sub-optimal for language modeling. Language modeling research on spontaneous speech [10] shows that N-gram LMs based on complete utterance units give lower perplexity than those based only on acoustic segmentations. Furthermore, work reported in [12] showed that the word error rate on spontaneous speech can be reduced simply by resegmenting the speech at linguistic boundaries and using a language model based on the same segmentation. Explicit modeling of spontaneous speech phenomena such as disfluencies also requires modeling of linguistic (as opposed to acoustic) segment boundaries [15]. Similarly, sophisticated LMs modeling syntactic structure typically assume complete sentences as their input [12]. The following excerpt from the Switchboard corpus [2] illustrates the discrepancies between acoustic and linguistic segmentations. Linguistic segment boundaries are marked by , whereas acoustic boundaries are indicated by //. A subset of acoustic boundaries corresponds to turn boundaries, indicated by . B: Worried that they’re not going to get enough attention?
Animation from instructions

We believe that computer animation in the form of narrated animated simulations can provide an engaging, effective and flexible medium for instructing agents in the performance of tasks. However, we argue that the only way to achieve the kind of flexibility needed to instruct agents of varying capabilities to perform tasks with varying demands in work places of varying layout is to drive both animation and narration from a common representation that embodies the same conceptualization of tasks and actions as Natural Language itself. To this end, we are exploring the use of Natural Language instructions to drive animated simulations. In this paper, we discuss the relationship between instructions and behavior that underlie our work and the overall structure of our system. We then describe in some what more detail three aspects of the system the representation used by the Simulator, the operation of the Simulator and the Motion Generators used in the system. Comments University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer and Information Science Technical Report No. MSCIS-90-17. This technical report is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/cis_reports/533 Animation From Instructions MS-CIS-90-17 GRAPHICS LAB 33 LINC LAB 165 Norman I. Badler Bonnie L. Webber Jeffrey Esakov Jugal Kalita Department of Computer and Information Science School of Engineering and Applied Science University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6389
A Review of “Peaceful Kings: Peace, Power, and the Earthly Medieval Political Imagination”: Kershaw, Paul J. E. Oxford: Oxford University Press 313 pp., $120.00, ISBN 978-0-19-820870-9 Publication Date: September 2010

Paul J. E. Kershaw, associate professor and head of the medieval studies program in the Corcoran Department of History of the University of Virginia, addresses “how peace was thought of and describ...
Voltage-gated calcium channels

Publisher Summary Voltage-gated calcium channels have been extensively investigated by conventional electrophysiological and biochemical techniques. However, the advances of cloning and functional expression techniques have opened a new, broader view of these macromolecular structures. This chapter discusses the information obtained using conventional techniques. It focuses on recent studies addressing the molecular and functional diversity of voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) that have provided an insight into the functional subunit structure of these channels. Excitable cells can contain multiple types of VGCCs. Different criteria are used to classify these channels. When defined by the pattern of channel activation, two major classes appear low voltage-activated (LVA) and high voltage-activated (HVA) channels. LVA channels have been termed as T-type (T stands for transient or tiny), while HVA channels have been further divided into four subclasses: L-type (L stands for long-lasting), N-type (“N” stands for neither “L” nor “T,” or more recently, neuronal), P-type (first described in cerebellar Purkinje cells), and a fifth channel type that cannot be placed into any of these subclasses. Voltage-gated Ca2+ channels are multi-subunit protein complexes that form a highly selective ion pore in the membrane. The α1-subunit forms the channel pore, voltage sensor, and harbors the clinically important drug-binding sites. Molecular technology is beginning to elucidate roles for the other subunits. These channels represent an important group of macromolecular structures that contribute to the regulation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration, a critical factor in numerous cellular processes.
Internal respiratory surrogate in multislice 4D CT using a combination of Fourier transform and anatomical features

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a novel algorithm to create a robust internal respiratory signal (IRS) for retrospective sorting of four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT) images. Methods: The proposed algorithm combines information from the Fourier transform of the CT images and from internal anatomical features to form the IRS. The algorithm first extracts potential respiratory signals from low-frequency components in the Fourier space and selected anatomical features in the image space. A clustering algorithm then constructs groups of potential respiratory signals with similar temporal oscillation patterns. The clustered group with the largest number of similar signals is chosen to form the final IRS. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, the IRS was computed and compared with the external respiratory signal from the real-time position management (RPM) system on 80 patients. Results: In 72 (90%) of the 4D CT data sets tested, the IRS computed by the authors’ proposed algorithm matched with the RPM signal based on their normalized cross correlation. For these data sets with matching respiratory signals, the average difference between the end inspiration times (Δt ins) in the IRS and RPM signal was 0.11 s, and only 2.1% of Δt ins were more than 0.5 s apart. In the eight (10%) 4D CT data sets in which the IRS and the RPM signal did not match, the average Δt ins was 0.73 s in the nonmatching couch positions, and 35.4% of them had a Δt ins greater than 0.5 s. At couch positions in which IRS did not match the RPM signal, a correlation-based metric indicated poorer matching of neighboring couch positions in the RPM-sorted images. This implied that, when IRS did not match the RPM signal, the images sorted using the IRS showed fewer artifacts than the clinical images sorted using the RPM signal. Conclusions: The authors’ proposed algorithm can generate robust IRSs that can be used for retrospective sorting of 4D CT data. The algorithm is completely automatic and requires very little processing time. The algorithm is cost efficient and can be easily adopted for everyday clinical use.
The nonabelian bar resolution

The theory of parity quasi-complexes (PQC) is developed, preparing a set up for defining derived functors using resolutions in the nonabelian case. A homotopy structure on the category of PQC is defined, yielding a 2-category structure. The nonabelian homology functor factors through the corresponding homotopy category. Following the relative homological algebra approach, resolutions are defined as PQC having parity contracting homotopies in a suitable category. A canonical non-abelian PQC resolution for groups is defined.
Genetic non-responsiveness of murine fibroblasts to bacterial endotoxin.

LETHAL infections with Gram-negative bacteria are thought to be due in large part to the toxicity of cell wall lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin). The mechanisms of action of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) have recently been clarified by in vitro studies which have helped explain many of the pathophysiological sequelae of endotoxin exposure1,2. C3H/HeJ mice, which are genetically resistant to many of the effects of endotoxin, have proved a valuable model for the systematic investigation of endotoxin-mediated phenomena3–5. Bacterial endotoxins are able to interact in vitro with a variety of cells and serum factors1,2,6 and it is known that LPS acts on murine B lymphocytes as a polyclonal activator for both mitogenesis and immunoglobulin synthesis7. This function has been found to be deficient in the C3H/HeJ mouse3,4. Also, endotoxins activate macrophages8–10, and this function also seems to be deficient in C3H/HeJ mice5 (Ryan, J. L., Glode, L. M. and Nathan, C. F., unpublished observations). To determine if the C3H/HeJ genetic defect in responsiveness to endotoxin is more general, we have investigated the ability of bacterial endotoxin to stimulate C3H/HeJ embryonic fibroblasts. Fibroblasts were chosen because it has recently been shown that they are endotoxin sensitive cells11.
Job attitudes of workers with two jobs

Abstract This article examines the job attitudes of people who hold more than one job. Satisfaction, stress, and organizational (continuance and affective) commitment were assessed for both primary and secondary jobs for 83 full-time workers who held two jobs concurrently. Consistency between job constructs across jobs was negligible, except for continuance organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Similarity between jobs was a significant moderator of convergence (though not consistency), whereas affective disposition did not appear to affect consistency or convergence. Holders of multiple jobs had higher satisfaction, higher stress, and higher affective organizational commitment with their primary jobs compared to their secondary jobs. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that job constructs associated with the primary job were useful for explaining life outcomes, even after controlling for affective disposition. Job constructs associated with secondary jobs, however, were not useful in explaining life outcomes. Limitations of the current study as well as suggestions for future research are given.
Biologic therapy of inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract Advancing knowledge regarding the biology of chronic inflammation has led to the development of specific biologic therapies that mechanistically target individual inflammatory pathways. Many biologic therapies are being evaluated for the treatment of the chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Biologic compounds proven to be effective for Crohn's disease include monoclonal antibodies to tumor necrosis factor (infliximab and CDP571) and to the leukocyte adhesion molecule α4 integrin (natalizumab). Other biologic compounds for which there is insufficient evidence to judge efficacy for inflammatory bowel disease include: p55 tumor necrosis factor binding protein (onercept); interferon α; interferon β-1a; anti-interferon γ antibody; anti-interleukin 12 antibody; p65 anti-sense oligonucleotide (blocks NF-κB); granulocyte colony stimulating factor, and granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor; anti-interleukin 2 receptor antibody; epidermal growth factor; keratinocyte growth factor 2 (repifermin); human growth hormone; anti-CD4 antibody; and anti-α4β7 antibody. Biologic therapies that have been proven ineffective for inflammatory bowel disease include: interleukin 10; interleukin 11; anti-sense intercellular adhesion molecule-1; and the tumor necrosis factor receptor fusion protein etanercept. Based on the early successes of infliximab, CDP571 and natalizumab, it seems certain that biologic therapy will play an important role in the future treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. GASTROENTEROLOGY 2002;122:1592-1608
Corn hull hydrolysis using glucoamylase and sulfuric acid.

Corn hull from a wet milling process contains 23% starch, 38% hemicellulose, 11% cellulose, 11.8% protein, 1.2% ash, and minor constituents. The starch fraction can be completely hydrolyzed by glucoamylase after the hull is heated with steam for 5 min. The hemicellulose fraction of destarched hull can be further hydrolyzed by sulfuric acid with a solid-acid ratio of about 30 to 1 and a liquidsolid ratio of about 3 to 1. A process based upon the above findings yields 49 lb. of fermentable sugar (xylose + glucose) per 100 lb. of dry corn hull. The product does not inhibit yeast fermentation. Maisschalen-Hydrolyse unter Verwendung von Glucoamylase und Schwefelsaure. Maisschalen aus einem Nasvermahlungsprozes enthalten 23% Starke, 38% Hemicellulose, 11% Cellulose, 11,8% Protein, 1,2% Asche und geringfugige Mengen anderer Bestandteile. Nachdem die Schalen 5 min mit Dampf erhitzt worden sind, kann die Starke-Fraktion durch Glucoamylase vollstandig hydrolysiert werden. Die Hemicellulose-Fraktion der von Starke befreiten Schalen last sich mit Schwefelsaure bei einem Feststoff-Saure-Verhaltnis von etwa 30: 1 und einem Flussig-Feststoff-Verhaltnis von etwa 3:1 weiter hydrolysieren. Ein Verfahren, das auf diesen Erkenntnissen basiert, ergibt 49 Gew.-Teile vergarbaren Zucker (Xylose und Glucose) je 100 Gew.-Teile Maisschalen-TS. Das Produkt verhindert nicht die Hefegarung.
A Comprehensive New Detector for Detailed Study of the QGP, Initial Conditions and Spin Physics at RHIC II

A case is presented for compelling physics at a high luminosity RHIC II collider. A comprehensive new detector system is introduced to address this physics. The experimental focus is on detailed jet tomography of the quark–gluon plasma (QGP), measuring gluon saturation in the nucleus, investigating the color glass condensate, measuring effects of the QCD vacuum on particle masses, determining the structure and dynamics within the proton and possible new phenomena. The physics and detector capabilities are introduced.
A neural network training algorithm utilizing multiple sets of linear equations

Abstract A fast algorithm is presented for the training of multilayer perceptron neural networks, which uses separate error functions for each hidden unit and solves multiple sets of linear equations. The algorithm builds upon two previously described techniques. In each training iteration, output weight optimization (OWO) solves linear equations to optimize output weights, which are those connecting to output layer net functions. The method of hidden weight optimization (HWO) develops desired hidden unit net signals from delta functions. The resulting hidden unit error functions are minimized with respect to hidden weights, which are those feeding into hidden unit net functions. An algorithm is described for calculating the learning factor for hidden weights. We show that the combined technique, OWO–HWO is superior in terms of convergence to standard OWO–BP (output weight optimization–backpropagation) which uses OWO to update output weights and backpropagation to update hidden weights. We also show that the OWO–HWO algorithm usually converges to about the same training error as the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm in an order of magnitude less time.
Major histocompatibility complex-restricted and unrestricted interactions in the T cell-dependent activation of hapten-binding B cells.

Abstract The requirements for linked recognition and major histocompatibility complex-restricted interactions in helper T cell-dependent activation of purified unprimed and primed haptenbinding B cells have been investigated. The activation of unprimed hapten-binding B cells required specific antigen and restricted interactions between helper T cells and B cells. As expected, specific hapten-carrier conjugates were essential for the activation of B cells at low antigen doses. Interestingly, however, supraoptimal concentrations (125 ltg/ml) of carrier protein alone could substitute for specific conjugates in the activation of unprimed B cells. The requirement for restricted helper T cell-B cell interactions was unchanged under these conditions. These results are discussed in terms of the signalling requirements for B cell activation.
Assessment of Service Load in Clinical Genetics Practice. Report of a Survey Conducted in the GENES Region

The GENES Clinical Services Committee was convened to monitor genetic services delivery in New York State, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and to examine the impact of changes in the healthcare delivery system on quality of care in medical genetics. In response to concerns regarding changing practice patterns due to financial constraints in the new medical marketplace, a survey was designed to collect baseline data on current and projected caseload. Such data have not previously been collected in our specialty. A complete list of clinical geneticists in the GENES Region was generated by accessing all relevant databases and directories. 159 met specific criteria and were mailed a survey designed to assess. (1) demographic profile; (2) % time allocated to various activities such as research or administration; (3) patient volume; (4) appointment waiting times; and (5) impact of changes in practice patterns on quality of care. Those not responding received a second survey and then a reminder telephone call. Individuals not practicing as clinical geneticists were removed from the data set. Preliminary data suggest that most clinicians have experienced an increase in patient volume over the last two years. Financial and quality-of-care implications will be discussed.
Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy The New 'Gold Standard'?

• Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has rapidly been adopted by surgeons, but concerns remain about its safety, the management of common bile duct stones, and the means of appropriate training. Of 647 patients referred for cholecystectomy, preoperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiography was performed in 49 (7.6%), with 27 patients (4%) undergoing sphincterotomy and stone extraction. Traditional cholecystectomy was performed in 29 patients (4.5%). Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was attempted in 618 patients and completed successfully in 600 (97.1%). Surgical trainees functioned as the primary surgeon in 70% of cases. Technical complications occurred in three patients (0.5%), including one patient with a common bile duct laceration (0.2%). Major complications occurred in 10 patients (1.6%), with no perioperative mortality. Mean postoperative hospital stay was 1 day, with return to work or full activity a mean of 8 days after surgery. Two cases of retained common bile duct stones (0.3%) were identified. We now regard laparoscopic cholecystectomy as the "gold standard" therapy for management of symptomatic cholelithiasis. ( Arch Surg . 1992;127:917-923)
Quasi-static ion broadening of isolated spectral lines

Abstract A tabulation of theoretical profiles of isolated spectral lines broadened by quasi-static ions is presented. This calculation is based on the quasi-static ion theory of Griem. A greater frequency range and a larger number of ion-broadening parameters than published by Griem are employed to facilitate comparisions with experiments. Observations on the validity of asymptotic wing formulas are included.
Corticotropin-releasing hormone involvement in stressor-induced alterations in sleep and in the regulation of waking

Sleep responds to a variety of stressors, but the precise mechanisms whereby these alterations occur are not known. Ample evidence, however, testifies to corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) being uniquely situated to contribute to stressor-induced alterations in sleep. Behavioral responses to most stressors include periods of increased arousal and waking, regardless of whether the stressor is psychological in nature or results in physical insult. Furthermore, a large body of evidence suggests that CRH may also contribute to the regulation and maintenance of physiological waking. In this paper we hypothesize that CRH mediates waking, particularly after periods of exposure to acute stressors. The complex interactions of multiple systems determine the behavioral response to a particular stressor. As such, many factors determine the time course and duration of response, including stressor type, and the status of a particular system at the time of stressor presentation. We briefly review data indicating that CRH mediates physiological and behavioral responses to stressors, and present new data supporting the hypothesis that CRH may also be involved in the physiological regulation of waking.
Computational studies of ion pairing. 9. The “steric” effect of tetraalkylammonium ions with electrochemically generated anions is not steric

Abstract The second reduction potentials of unsaturated hydrocarbons move to increasingly negative potentials with increasing size of the tetraalkylammonium ion used as supporting electrolyte. This has been interpreted as due to increasing steric inhibition of ion pair formation between the cation and electrochemically generated dianion with increasing cation size. We report computations that show that this interpretation is incorrect. Rather, the positive charge on the hydrogen atoms responsible for ion pairing decreases as the size of the electrolyte cation increases. Another unsuspected phenomenon is brought to light by the computations: the positive charge in a tetraalkylammonium ion is not distributed more or less uniformly, but rather it is concentrated on the methylene groups attached to the central nitrogen. It is these groups that are responsible for ion pair formation.
Review of 30 cases of peritonitis in the horse

Thirty cases of peritonitis, in which the diagnosis was based on a peritoneal fluid white blood cell count in excess of 10 x 10(9)/litre, are described. Colic, ileus, pyrexia, weight loss and diarrhoea were common presenting signs. Treatments included intravenous fluids, anti-inflammatory analgesics, broad spectrum antibiotics and anthelmintics. Duration of treatment was determined by the clinical condition of the horse and sequential analyses of the peritoneal fluid and the haemogram. In the majority of cases the primary cause of peritonitis was not accurately determined, but 21 horses (70 per cent) recovered. All the horses with diarrhoea were killed after marked deterioration in their clinical condition despite intensive treatment. No individual laboratory parameter was of value in determining prognosis, although of the eight (27 per cent) horses from which bacteria were identified in the initial peritoneal fluid by Gram stain, four (50 per cent) were subsequently killed.
Frequency of abnormal heavy metal blood levels in Wegener's granulomatosis

Previous studies suggested environmental exposures, including mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb), may be related to Wegener's granulomatosis. In this study, investigations were extended to include the measurement of heavy metals in blood samples from patients diagnosed with Wegener's. Diagnosis was confirmed by using the 1990 Classification Criteria for Wegener's granulomatosis established by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). Using commercial lab testing, whole blood heavy metal screenings were obtained from patients, and results were then compared with validated subject self-report questionnaire estimates of exposure. Thirty-eight Wegener's patients were enrolled; 10 of the 38 exhibited abnormal lab values. In those 10 subjects 3 had elevated nickel (Ni), 7 with increased cobalt (Co), 3 with higher manganese, 1 with elevated copper, and 1 with increased Hg. Overall, the questionnaire results did not correlate with the blood heavy metal analysis. Approximately 26% of Wegener's subjects in this study dis...