cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Maximum theoretical power density of lithium–air batteries with mixed electrolyte

Abstract An analytical model is developed for the discharge voltage of Li–air batteries with mixed organic/aqueous electrolyte and used to analyze the effects of the oxygen dissolution, solubility, pressure, and diffusivity, reaction rates, and internal resistance on the power density of Li–air batteries. By carefully identifying the model parameters using experimental data it is shown that, for discharge currents above 25 mA cm−2 the power of these batteries is mainly limited by the large internal resistance of the membrane and membrane/electrolyte interfaces (which is currently larger than 100 Ω cm2), while for smaller discharge currents the power is limited by the low oxygen concentration at the reaction sites. The maximum power density can be increased by approximately 1.5 times if the internal resistance is decreased from 100 Ω cm2 to 25 Ω cm2. This relatively small increase in the power density is due to the low dissolution rate and solubility of the oxygen in the liquid electrolyte. Finally, when the battery is operated at maximum discharge power, the oxygen diffusion length in the aqueous electrolyte is under 1 μm, which shows that one needs to use partly wet cathodes in order to achieve high power densities in these batteries.
Health Insurance and Disability Levels for Older Black and White Women in the South

For this article, the authors used the National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) to look at health insurance coverage for persons aged 50 and older. Although previous research has shown that race, gender, and region influence health insurance status, little is known about how these factors interact to affect that status. It was found that there is a crucial intersection of gender, race, and region in the reliance on Medicaid and in not having any insurance for persons aged 50 and older. Over 73% of southern Black women are covered by Medicaid, compared to 9.4%, 16.6%, and 33% of southern White men, White women, and Black men, respectively. Having no insurance or insurance coverage through Medicaid, being unmarried, and having low levels of formal education are associated with reports of significantly higher levels of disability among older women. The article concludes with the implications of these findings for national health and family policy.
A Mechanistic Perspective of the Biaxial Strength of Paperboard

Prior research has demonstrated the practical significance of biaxial strength and established methods for measuring and predicting biaxial properties. Analytical models have been shown to accurately predict failure conditions, but do not identify the mode of failure. The present research develops a method for modeling the biaxial strength of paperboard based on criteria which infer a specific mechanism or mode of failure. In this approach, one or more criteria comprise a model which is evaluated iteratively at multiple states of stress to construct a failure envelope. Analytical results are graphically compared with experimental data. While some models evaluated in this report do not adequately represent the data, one comprised of both stress and strain limiting criteria yields an acceptable fit. We conclude that the modeling approach proposed is practical and useful for distinguishing between “potentially correct” and “inadequate” concepts of biaxial strength. Results suggest that transverse compressive strain may play a role in limiting tensile strength and that paperboard may not fail in an in-plane shear mode unique from normal tensile and compressive failure.
SU‐F‐BRA‐06: Sensitivity Analysis for Lexicographic Ordering in Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning

Purpose: To efficiently identify and calculate significant tradeoffs between structures in IMRT plans and to present these relationships in a manner beneficial for decision making. Methods: A lexicographic ordering (LO) approach to IMRT, where physicians categorize treatment goals by importance, partitions the treatment planning decisions into a multi‐stage treatment planning model. However, since the objectives optimized in the different stages do not necessarily represent a strict prioritization, the impact of deviations from optimality in one stage may provide benefits in a later stage that are of interest to physicians. In order to identify significant benefits, we studied the tradeoffs in intermediate‐risk prostate IMRT using an LO approach by examining the inter‐stage interactions of the objective functions. Linear approximations of Equivalent Uniform Dose (EUD) that are convex combinations of mean dose and minimum or maximum dose were used as treatment plan evaluation criteria. Results: Significant improvements to the treatment plan were found by examination of the interstage tradeoffs. For example, reducing the EUD to the PTV by less than 0.2 Gy from its maximum value allows the EUD to the rectum to be lowered by more than 3.8 Gy. For each stage, charts were created showing the tradeoff between relaxing the previous stage and the current stage benefits, allowing physicians to make better‐informed planning decisions. Conclusions: This work highlights the benefits of a LO approach to IMRTtreatment planning. Highly advantageous alterations to current treatment plans can be easily missed without a form of efficient sensitivity analysis on the treatment planning models. LO implicitly restricts attention to a subset of the Pareto efficient frontier that the physicians have deemed most important by the nature of LO.
Hypnotic Efficacy of Triazolam: Sleep Laboratory Evaluation of Intermediate‐Term Effectiveness

Triazolam (U-33030), an investigational hypnotic drug, was evaluated in seven insomniac subjects in the sleep laboratory. The protocol consisted of 22 consecutive nights: four placebo nights for adaptation and baseline, two weeks of drug administration (0.5 mg triazolam) for short- and intermediate-term drug effectiveness, and four placebo nights for withdrawal effects. With short-term drug use, both sleep induction and sleep maintenance improved, with total wake time decreasing markedly--a 45 per cent decrease from baseline. At the end of two weeks of drug use, none of the efficacy parameters was significantly decreased from baseline; there was only a 17 per cent decrease in total wake time. Following drug withdrawal, sleep difficulty significantly increased above baseline levels. Two of the subjects experienced episodes of amnesia during the drug administration period. The per cent of REM sleep decreased significantly during both short and intermediate drug conditions. Following drug withdrawal, the per cent of REM sleep was similar to baseline. Slow-wave (stages 3 and 4) sleep was significantly decreased for both drug conditions; and following drug withdrawal, it returned completely to the baseline leve. These data indicate that triazolam is effective for short-term use, loses most of its effectiveness with intermediate-term use, and its withdrawal is followed by a significant sorsening of sleep. These findings are discussed in relation to the potential labeling and promotion of triazolam. Finally, the findings of amnesia associated with triazolam administration need to be more thoroughly evaluated.
Comparison of Nomothetic Versus Idiographic-Oriented Methods for Making Predictions About Distal Outcomes From Time Series Data.

We illustrate the idiographic/nomothetic debate by comparing 3 approaches to using daily self-report data on affect for predicting relationship quality and breakup. The 3 approaches included (a) the first day in the series of daily data; (b) the mean and variability of the daily series; and (c) parameters from dynamic factor analysis, a statistical model that uses all measurement occasions to estimate the structure and dynamics of the data. Our results indicated that data from the first measurement occasion does not provide information about the couples' relationship quality or breakup 1 to 2 years later. The mean and variability of the time series, however, were more informative: females' average positive and negative affect across time was related to relationship quality, whereas males' variability in negative affect across time was predictive of breakup. The dynamic factor analysis, in turn, allowed us to extract information central to the dyadic dynamics. This information proved useful to predict rela...
New approaches in the treatment of myelofibrosis

Myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia (MMM) is a chronic clonal neoangiogenesis disorder characterized by bone marrow fibrosis and neoangiogensis with extramedullary hematopoiesis. Identification of prognostic factors associated with MMM have not impacted the treatment of the disease, which continues to be palliative with the exception of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) for potential long-term disease-free survival in selected patients. Additional insights into the pathophysiology of MMM have resulted in the use of novel therapeutic strategies in the treatment of this disease. The rationale for the investigation of these agents in MMM and the status of clinical trials with various modalities such as angiogenesis inhibitors (e.g., thalidomide), tyrosine kinase inhibitors (e.g., imatinib mesylate), farnesyl transferase inhibitors (e.g., R115777), and other agents are reviewed, in addition to the potential roles of autologous and allogeneic SCT.
Demethylation of N-methyl derivatives of barbituric acid, hydantoin, and 2,4-oxazolidinedione by rat liver microsomes

Abstract Several N-methyl derivatives of barbituric acid, hydantoin, and 2,4-oxazolidinedione were demethylated by a preparation of the microsomal and soluble fractions of a rat liver homogenate with added NADP, glucose-6-phosphate, and nicotinamide and under an atmosphere of pure oxygen. Demethylation was accompanied by production of formaldehyde. There were large differences among the substrates in their rates of demethylation. Livers of rats pretreated with phenobarbital or nikethamide had higher demethylating activity toward all the substrates than did livers of untreated rats, but the degree of augmentation of activity was quite different for the different substrates.
Political Authority and Party Secretaries in Poland, 1975-1986

List of tables Preface List of abbreviations 1. Communist power and party authority in Poland 2. Provincial party secretaries: Polish officials in comparative perspectives 3. Provincial party committees in Poland, 1975-80 4. Indecision and odnowa: obstacles to re-establishing party authority 5. Renewal and party authority: the extraordinary congress and its consequences 6. The advance of the military 7. Political normalisation and party authority 8. The Polish road to political stability: ruling without authority 9. Conclusion Notes Index.
Precision electrocautery excision of pulmonary lesions (Perelman technique) : radiologic features

The authors describe the radiologic features of precision electrocautery excision of pulmonary lesions (Perelman technique). Thin-walled cavities were seen on chest radiographs obtained in three patients at the site of the resected lesion subsequent to this surgical procedure. Knowledge of these findings can avoid a false diagnosis of abscess, septic emboli, or additional metastasis.
Bureau of Reclamation 230-Kv Transmission Lines in North Dakota [includes discussion]

A double-circuit 230-kv transmission line from the Garrison Dam power plant to Bismarck, N. Dak., and a singlecircuit 230-kv transmission line from Bismarck to Jamestown, N. Dak., were recently constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation as a part of the proposed ultimate system to transmit power from the Federal power plants on the Missouri River to wholesale customers in the Missouri River Basin. The lines are designed for National Electrical Safety Code heavy-loading conditions with additional vertical strength in the crossarms to support the conductors with 1?-inch radial thickness of ice. The conductors used on both circuits of the Garrison-Bismarck line are 795,000-circular-mil (CM) steel-reinforced aluminum cable (ACSR), 26 Al/7 st. The conductors on the Bismarck-Jamestown line are 954,000-CM ACSR, 54 Al/7 st. Two 1/2-inch high-strength-grade 7-wire class-A galvanized steel-strand overhead ground wires are used for the full length of each line. The design features of these transmission lines are typical of Bureau of Reclamation lines constructed since 1946.
Susceptibility of Southern Green Stink Bug and Redbanded Stink Bug to Insecticides in Soybean Field Experiments and Laboratory Bioassays

Abstract Recently the redbanded stink bug, Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood), has become a major pest of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, in Louisiana and has begun to infest soybeans throughout the Mid-South. Soybean industry and cooperative extension personnel have reported differential susceptibility between the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula L., and redbanded stink bug treated with currently labeled insecticides in commercial production fields. To address their concern, we evaluated susceptibility of southern green stink bug and redbanded stink bug to insecticides in field and laboratory experiments. Insecticide field efficacy experiments during 5 years indicated control with pyrethroids was 94.4 ± 1.3% for southern green stink bug and 75.1 ± 1.9% for redbanded stink bug, with organophosphates, 89.8 ± 2.7% for southern green stink bug, and 84.8 ± 1.7% for redbanded stink bug, and with neonicotinoid insecticides, 78.0 ± 5.6 and 63.2 ± 6.0%, respectively. Insecticide pre-mixtures or product c...
Conformation of oxytocin studied by laser Raman spectroscopy

The peptide backbone conformation and salient structural details of oxytocin were examined by laser Raman spectroscopy. Spectra were obtained in the solid phase, water, 2H2O, and dimethyl sulfoxide solutions. A distinct Amide I band was obtained at 1663 cm−1 for aqueous and deuterated samples and 1666 cm−1 for the solid sample. A relatively high frequency Amide III band at 1260 cm−1 was obtained. It is concluded that these Amide I and III bands arise from the “β-turn”-like conformation of oxytocin. The tyrosine side chain, according to the I850 cm−1/I830cm−1 intensity ratio, is exposed to the solvent. The S-S stretching vibration at 512 cm−1 indicates the conformation of C-C-S-S-C-C in the disulfide bridge of oxytocin in the ring is gauche-gauche-gauche.
Prevalence of Mefenoxam Resistance Among Phytophthora erythroseptica Pethybridge Isolates in Minnesota and North Dakota

In an 8 year survey of Minnesota potato fields, a total of 1,772 isolates of Phytophthora erythroseptica were collected from potato tubers showing symptoms of pink rot. All isolates were evaluated for sensitivity to the systemic fungicide mefenoxam and categorized as mefenoxam-sensitive, -intermediate or -resistant. A significant yearly increase was observed in the frequency of mefenoxam-resistant P. erythroseptica isolates recovered and in the frequency of fields from which mefenoxam-resistant isolates originated. Additionally, isolates with intermediate levels of mefenoxam resistance were recovered in each year of the survey. In a similar survey, greater than 80% of P. erythroseptica isolates recovered were mefenoxam-sensitive among 293 total isolates collected over 3 years in North Dakota, and no P. erythroseptica isolates with intermediate resistance to mefenoxam were recovered. Results reported here confirm the presence of mefenoxam resistance among isolates of P. erythroseptica in Minnesota and North Dakota but at varying levels among years of the survey in both states. The presence of P. erythroseptica isolates with intermediate levels of resistance to mefenoxam collected in Minnesota support earlier studies which indicate that isolates displaying intermediate responses to mefenoxam are indicative of a transitional flux from a mefenoxam-sensitive to a mefenoxam-resistant population.
Translation of the chloroplast-encoded psbD mRNA is arrested post-initiation in a nuclear mutant of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Summary Nac1-18 is a nuclear mutant of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii , previously shown to lack translation of the psbD mRNA (Kuchka et al. 1988). Here we show that nac1-18 is deficient in D2 synthesis, despite the association of the corresponding psbD mRNA with polyribosomes. psbD mRNA translation is blocked post-initiation in nac1-18, suggesting that a nuclear gene is specifically required for elongation of this mRNA. A decrease in psbA translation is also observed in nac1-18, as previously seen in other mutants lacking D2 synthesis (Erickson et al. 1986). Here we show that association of psbA mRNA with polyribosomes is reduced in nac1-18 as a result of the loss of D2 synthesis, suggesting a relationship between D2 accumulation and D1 translation initiation.
Improving the performance of the SP-3000 PET detector modules

A major concern in the use of BaF/sub 2/ detectors in a positron emission tomograph is the collection of the UV light from the fast decay component of the scintillator. A series of experiments with the standard SP-3000 commercial detector module confirmed that the coupling compound formulation was reasonable, but that the reflector material used to wrap the crystals was not optimal. Rebuilding the detector modules with PTFE Teflon increased the light output from the detector modules by factors of three. Initial tests with phantoms using two rings of rebuilt detectors in the University of Washington BaF/sub 2/ positron emission tomography system confirmed improvements in resolution and contrast in comparison to the original SP-3000 modules. >
Temporary negative ion resonances in benzene and benzene derivatives

Abstract New, intense, energy loss resonances below the first excitation potential were discovered in the electron impact excitation spectra of benzene and six of its derivatives. The observed resonances for o-C6H4CH3Cl, C6H5Cl, C6H5Br and o-6H4Cl2 peak at exactly the same energy as the dissociative electron capture resonances previously reported for these compounds, suggesting that both resonances proceed via a common temporary negative ion state of the parent molecules.
Clinical Action of Remoxipride

Expectations for new neuroleptics with improved antipsychotic action have been high since the demonstration of differential antipsychotic efficacy with clozapine. 1 The exact mechanism of clozapine's unique antipsychotic action is unknown, so directions for new drug development have been speculative. Remoxipride hydrochloride is a substituted benzamide of the sulpiride family; it has highly selective dopamine D 2 antagonist activity and in vivo selectivity for limbic D 2 receptors. 2 Although this neuroleptic is not now in active development in the United States for toxicity reasons, its known clinical actions and preclinical properties can provide information for future drug development. Remoxipride has already been shown to produce significantly fewer motor side effects than the standard neuroleptic, haloperidol. 3 Herein, we report preliminary data suggesting that remoxipride, like clozapine, has unique antipsychotic activity in neurolepticresistant schizophrenic individuals. Sixteen DSM-III-R 4 schizophrenic subjects were characterized as neuroleptic resistant, according to previous criteria. 1
Optical bistability in four-level nonradiative dyes

Abstract We describe conditions under which optical bistability may be observed in a Fabry-Perot filled with saturably absorbing dye. Bistability occurs due to an intensity-dependent phase shift arising from nonresonant dispersion caused by an excited metastable state which is excited to the process of saturable absorption. Preliminary experiments confirm the theoretical predictions using BDN.
A comparison of eating disorder scores among African-American and white college females

African-American and white college females participated in a survey of factors underlying eating disorders. On the average, the white women were more dissatisfied with their body shapes but had fewer feelings of distrust for others and less anxiety about maturity. Proportionately, almost two times as many white females scored in the upper 14% on the bulimia scale. These high-scoring white women were more concerned with being thin and had greater dissatisfaction with their body shapes than did the high-scoring African-American women.
The role of aspect ratio on entrainment rates of instantaneous, axisymmetric finite volume releases of dense fluid

This article presents the results of laboratory experiments designed to discriminate the role of the initial aspect ratio (height/radius) on the dilution and entrainment rates of instantaneous releases of dense, axisymmetric finite volumes into a larger, sector-shaped volume of less dense, quiescent fluid. The effect of increasing the aspect ratio is to increase the dilution. Entrainment velocities are shown to be related to the speed of advancement of the leading edge of the intrusion and the aspect ratio. In comparison to low aspect ratio releases, high aspect ratio configurations have much greater entrainment velocities initially; subsequently, dependence of entrainment velocities upon the aspect ratio diminishes.
An improved method for separation of urea N and glutamine amide N for 15N metabolic studies

Abstract An improved method for the separation and isolation of urea N and glutamine amide N for 15 N metabolic studies has been developed. This procedure overcomes the problem of alkaline hydrolysis of glutamine amide N encountered in the other methods available. Data are presented which indicate that urea N and glutamine amide N can be separated by this procedure with a minimal isotopic mixing or contamination. Procedures are suggested for application of this method for 15 N studies in both blood and tissue samples.
Localized delivery of epidermal growth factor improves the survival of transplanted hepatocytes

Hepatocyte transplantation may provide a new approach for treating a variety of liver diseases if a sufficient number of the transplanted cells survive over an extended time period. In this report, we describe a technique to deliver growth factors to transplanted hepatocytes to improve their engraftment. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) was incorporated (0.11%) into microspheres (19 +/- 12 mum) fabricated from a copolymer of lactic and glycolic acid using a double emulsion technique. The incorporated EGF was steadily released over 1 month in vitro, and it remained biologically active, as determined by its ability to stimulate DNA synthesis, cell division, and long-term survival of cultured hepatocytes. EGF-containing microspheres were mixed with a suspension of hepatocytes, seeded onto porous sponges, and implanted into the mesentery of two groups of Lewis rats. The first group of animals had their portal vein shunted to the inferior vena cava prior to cell transplantation (portal-caval shunt = PCS), and the second group of animals did not (non-PCS). This surgical procedure improves the survival of transplanted hepatocytes. The engraftment of transplanted hepatocytes in PCS animals was increased two-fold by adding EGF microspheres, as compared to adding control microspheres that contained no growth factors. Devices implanted into non-PCS animals had fewer engrafted hepatocytes than devices implanted into PCS animals, regardless of whether blank or EGF-containing microspheres were added. These results first indicate that it is possible to design systems which can alter the microenvironment of transplanted hepatocytes to improve their engraftment. They also suggest that hepatocyte engraftment is not improved by providing single growth factors unless the correct environment (PCS) is provided for the transplanted cells. (c) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Quantumlike bits and logic gates based on classical oscillators

It is shown how a classical system can possess such quantum properties as indeterminism, interference of probabilities, unitary transformations, wave functions, and noncommuting operators, and be used in quantumlike computations.
A New High-Efficiency UV-Emitting X-Ray Phosphor, BaHf1−xZrx(PO4)2

Barium hafnium–zirconium phosphate BaHf1−xZrx(PO4)2 (x=0–0.2), having the monoclinic KFe(SO4)2 (Yavapaiite) structure, is a broad-band UV-emitting phosphor. At room temperature, it has an emission peak maximum at approximately 356 nm under 30 kV peak molybdenum X-ray excitation. Compositions derived from 99% pure hafnia and having nominal values of x ∼ 0.01–0.05 demonstrate luminescence efficiencies that make BaHf1−xZrx(PO4)2 30% brighter than CaWO4 Hi-Plus. This efficiency is equal to that of a commercial M′–YTaO4 phosphor that emits at 330 nm. BaHf1−xZrx(PO4)2 is, thus, a potentially attractive candidate for use in medical diagnostic imaging systems. The lower X-ray absorption of BaHf1−xZrx(PO4)2, relative to that of UV-emitting M′–YTaO4, suggests that the title phosphor may be suitable for two-sided mammography screen applications. The synthesis conditions, X-ray excited luminescence, and effects of Eu, Sn, and Ti doping are discussed.
Spreading of Aqueous Dimethyldidodecylammonium Bromide Surfactant Droplets over Liquid Hydrocarbon Substrates

The dynamics of dimethyldidodecylammonim bromide (DDAB) aqueous surfactant solutions spreading over a deep layer of liquid hydrocarbons is studied by video-enhanced microscopy at 23 °C and at diffe...
Stress distribution in photoelastic models of transverse sections of porcelain-fused-to-gold crowns and preparations.

The stress distribution in composite photoelastic models of transverse sections of porcelain-fused-to-gold restorations and preparations was determined. The optimum design was one in which the porcelain-gold junction was on the lingual side of contact points that represented the contact of adjacent teeth.
On the stability of linear III-posed problems with a prescribed energy bound

In this paper we study the stability of linear operator equation Aαu = ƒ under assumption of an a priori bound E(u)≤E, where α is a parameter in a metric space M and E(u) is a positive functional. Following[11] the problem Aαu = ƒ,E(u)≤E is called stable in a Hilbert space H at a point α ∊ M if for any ƒ ∊ H, E,∊ > 0 there exists δ>0 such that for any functions satisfying , j = 1,2 we have H ≤∊ provided ρM(αj,α)≤ δ , j=1,2. We show that if Aα has a complete in H system of eigenvectors, and the eigenvectors and the eigenvalues depend continuously on α ∊ M then the problem is stable at α ∊ M if and only if 0∉σp:(Aα).
Reactions of group VIII metal carbonyl anions with 1,2-dichlorotetramethyl-disilane

Abstract Reactions of 1,2-dichlorotetramethyldisilane with transition metal carbonyl anions, NaCo(CO) 4 and Na 2 Fe(CO) 4 , proceed easily to give monodisplacement products. Thus, reaction with NaCo(CO) 4 yields a neutral chlorodisilanyl cobalt complex, Cl(CH 3 ) 2 Si(CH 3 ) 2 SiCo(CO) 4 , and the analogous reaction chlorodisilanyltetracarbonylferrate salt, [Cl(CH 3 ) 2 Si(CH 3 ) 2 SiFe(CO) 4 ] − Na + . The β-chloride of Cl(CH 3 ) 2 SiCo(CO) 4 was unreactive toward BCl 3 . Prolonged reaction with CaCo(CO) 4 resulted in formation of the cluster compound, (CO) 9 Co 3 COSi(CH 3 ) 2 Si(CH 3 ) 2 Co(CO) 4 and of bis(μ-dimethylsilylene)bis(tricarbonylcobalt)(CoCo).
Osteonecrosis of the jaw in a patient on Denosumab.

Osteonecrosis of the jaws (ONJ) clinically presents as exposed, necrotic bone in the maxilla or mandible of at least eight week duration, with or without the presence of pain, infection, or previous trauma in a patient who has not received radiation to the jaws (1–3). Although necrotic bone exposure has been reported in the jaws of a variety of patients not receiving bisphosphonates (BPs;4–9), the number of BP related ONJ cases has continued to steadily increase since the first report in 2003 (10). To date, a direct causal relationship between BP use and ONJ has not been established (11,12). However, many retrospective and prospective analyses have identified cases of ONJ where BP therapy, especially the more potent intravenous preparations, was the only consistent variable, strongly suggesting that BPs play a significant role in ONJ pathophysiology (13–24). Potential mechanisms underlying bisphosphonate related osteonecrosis of the jaws (BRONJ) pathophysiology have generated great debate in the literature (25,26). It is not surprising that many hypotheses attempt to explain the unique localization of BRONJ exclusively to the jaws, including altered bone remodeling, angiogenesis inhibition, constant microtrauma, soft tissue BP toxicity, and bacterial infection (15,18,25,27–29). Importantly, ONJ incidence correlation with BP potency suggests that inhibition of osteoclast function and differentiation might be a key factor in the pathophysiology of the disease. Currently other inhibitors of osteoclast differentiation and function are entering the pharmacologic armamentarium for the treatment of diseases with increased bone turnover. The association of these new therapies with ONJ is uncertain. We report a case of ONJ in a patient receiving Denosumab, a human RANKL monoclonal antibody currently in clinical trials for the treatment of osteoporosis, primary and metastatic bone cancer, giant cell tumor, and rheumatoid arthritis (30–33).
Synthesis and characterization of ordered intermetallic PtPb nanorods

We have demonstrated the synthesis of ordered intermetallic PtPb nanorods by simultaneously reducing platinum acetylacetonate and lead acetylacetonate with a tert-butylamine−borane complex in a mixture of diphenyl ether, adamantanecarboxylic acid, hexadecanethiol, and hexadecylamine. The formation of rodlike morphology is attributed to the preferable incorporation of Pt and Pb adatoms onto sites with high-coordination numbers of the growing low-index surfaces based on a Kossel crystal analysis. These PtPb nanorods can be deposited onto carbon black and show high-catalytic properties toward methanol oxidation. The current mass density of this PtPb/C catalyst is above 700 mA mg-1 Pt, which is significantly higher than that of a commercial PtRu/C catalyst.
On-chip cell lysis by local hydroxide generation

We present a novel method for on-chip cell lysis based on local hydroxide electro-generation. Hydroxide ions porate the cell membrane, leading to cell lysis. After lysis occurs, hydrogen ions, also generated on chip, react with excess hydroxide, creating a neutral pH lysate and eliminating the need for a wash step. Three different cell types are shown to be effectively lysed by this method: red blood cells, HeLa (human tumor line) and Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell lines. The release of cytoplasmic molecules from HeLa and CHO cells is demonstrated by monitoring the escape of a membrane impermeant dye from the cytoplasm. In the vicinity of the cathode, the hydroxide concentration is predicted by finite element simulations and shown to fit the lysis rates at different distances from the generating cathode. For flow-through experiments, a second device integrating a mechanical filter with hydroxide generation is fabricated and tested. The purpose of the filter is to trap whole cells and only allow lysate to pass through. The flow rate dependence of hydroxide concentration at the lysis filter is modeled and lysis efficiency is experimentally determined to be proportional to the hydroxide concentration for flow rates from 15 to 30 µl min−1.
Ontology application and use at the ENCODE DCC.

The Encyclopedia of DNA elements (ENCODE) project is an ongoing collaborative effort to create a catalog of genomic annotations. To date, the project has generated over 4000 experiments across more than 350 cell lines and tissues using a wide array of experimental techniques to study the chromatin structure, regulatory network and transcriptional landscape of the Homo sapiens and Mus musculus genomes. All ENCODE experimental data, metadata and associated computational analyses are submitted to the ENCODE Data Coordination Center (DCC) for validation, tracking, storage and distribution to community resources and the scientific community. As the volume of data increases, the organization of experimental details becomes increasingly complicated and demands careful curation to identify related experiments. Here, we describe the ENCODE DCC’s use of ontologies to standardize experimental metadata. We discuss how ontologies, when used to annotate metadata, provide improved searching capabilities and facilitate the ability to find connections within a set of experiments. Additionally, we provide examples of how ontologies are used to annotate ENCODE metadata and how the annotations can be identified via ontology-driven searches at the ENCODE portal. As genomic datasets grow larger and more interconnected, standardization of metadata becomes increasingly vital to allow for exploration and comparison of data between different scientific projects. Database URL: https://www.encodeproject.org/
Implementation and validation of multicast-enabled landmark ad-hoc routing (M-LANMAR) protocol

In this paper, we investigate the performance of multicast-enabled landmark ad-hoc routing (denoted as M-LANMAR) protocol using a Linux implementation as well as a QualNet simulation model. The main objectives are the validation of our implementation and the demonstration of the advantages of M-LANMAR. Using a Linux implementation of ODMRP, we compare the performance of M-LANMAR to that of ODMRP in a small-scale testbed. Through simulation, we show also the scalability of M-LANMAR to large networks.
Differential gene expression in the T-helper lymphocytes of obstructive sleep apnea patients treated with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP)

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disease with significant morbidity, increased risk of accidents attributed to daytime somnolence, and has been associated with cardiovascular complications. The treatment of choice for OSA is nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP). Some OSA patients, however, are unable to benefit from this therapy as they find nCPAP intolerable due to the related nasal inflammation. It is hypothesized that nCPAP may cause nasal inflammation in these patients by inducing changes in the expression of genes that encode interleukins (IL-3, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-13) or adhesion molecules (i.e., ICAM-1) in T-helper lymphocytes. An understanding of the underlying inflammatory mechanism could lead to specific interventions that render nCPAP therapy tolerable for these individuals.
Why ban the sale of cigarettes? The case for abolition

The cigarette is the deadliest artefact in the history of human civilisation. Most of the richer countries of the globe, however, are making progress in reducing both smoking rates and overall consumption. Many different methods have been proposed to steepen this downward slope, including increased taxation, bans on advertising, promotion of cessation, and expansion of smoke-free spaces. One option that deserves more attention is the enactment of local or national bans on the sale of cigarettes. There are precedents: 15 US states enacted bans on the sale of cigarettes from 1890 to 1927, for instance, and such laws are still fully within the power of local communities and state governments. Apart from reducing human suffering, abolishing the sale of cigarettes would result in savings in the realm of healthcare costs, increased labour productivity, lessened harms from fires, reduced consumption of scarce physical resources, and a smaller global carbon footprint. Abolition would also put a halt to one of the principal sources of corruption in modern civilisation, and would effectively eliminate one of the historical forces behind global warming denial and environmental obfuscation. The primary reason for abolition, however, is that smokers themselves dislike the fact they smoke. Smoking is not a recreational drug, and abolishing cigarettes would therefore enlarge rather than restrict human liberties. Abolition would also help cigarette makers fulfil their repeated promises to ‘cease production’ if cigarettes were ever found to be causing harm.
Developing auditory-perceptual judgment reliability in otolaryngology residents.

Summary Objectives To determine how standard residency training and educational background affect otolaryngology resident auditory-perceptual judgments compared with inexperienced listeners. A secondary aim was to assess the impact of a brief training session on the reliability of judgments among otolaryngology residents. Study Design Mixed cross-sectional and cohort study. Methods Twenty adult dysphonic and four normal speaker samples were selected from a database. Fifteen listeners at various stages of residency in otolaryngology judged all samples for breathiness and roughness using visual analog scales. Fifteen inexperienced listeners judged the same samples. Subsequently, 12 otolaryngology residents underwent a brief training session. During training, listeners were provided definitions of rating dimensions and accuracy feedback while rating 20 novel (training) stimuli. The feedback included averaged responses from experienced clinicians who had previously evaluated the same speech samples. The residents then completed posttraining evaluations. Results As a group, otolaryngology resident listeners had significantly better interrater agreement for judgments of roughness compared with inexperienced listeners ( P P =0.058). Posttraining, no significant improvement in interrater agreement for judgments of roughness was observed; however, a significant improvement was found in interrater agreement of judgments of breathiness ( P Conclusions Compared with inexperienced (untrained) listeners, otolaryngology resident listeners had better interrater agreement overall for judgments of dysphonia. A short training module was associated with improved reliability in resident evaluation of breathiness. Results have implications for improving and standardizing resident evaluation of dysphonia.
The Gatehouses and Mansions: Fifty Years Later

In 1965, Yale Kamisar authored “Equal Justice in the Gatehouses and Mansions of American Criminal Procedure,” an article that came to have an enormous impact on the development of criminal procedure and American norms of criminal justice. Today, that article is a seminal work of scholarship, hailed for “playing a significant part in producing some of the [Warren] Court's most important criminal-procedure decisions” (White 2003–2004), including Miranda v. Arizona. The most influential concept Kamisar promoted may have been his recognition of a gap that loomed between the Constitutional rights actualized in mansions (courts) versus gatehouses (police stations). Kamisar passionately detailed how the Constitution and its jurisprudential progeny failed to protect suspects when those rights mattered most: when facing questioning by police. This article discusses where this thesis stands today in light of nearly 50years of legal developments and social science research.
Endocannabinoid system overactivity and the metabolic syndrome: Prospects for treatment

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) plays a physiologic role in modulating energy balance, feeding behavior, lipoprotein metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and glucose homeostasis, which when dysregulated can all contribute to cardiometabolic risk. Evidence has suggested that the ECS is overactive in human obesity and in animal models of genetic and diet-induced obesity. ECS stimulation centrally and peripherally drives metabolic processes that mimic the metabolic syndrome. These findings have led to the development of potential novel therapeutic targets, including the drug rimonabant, a selective CB1 receptor antagonist, which has been shown to promote weight loss, reduce inflammation, improve dyslipidemia, and improve glucose homeostasis.
Relationships Between Sensory and Objective Measures of Postharvest Quality of Snap Beans as Determined by Cluster Analysis

Seventeen sensory, physical and chemical measurements of postharvest quality were obtained from 72 snap bean samples during four separate experiments. Cluster analysis was used to determine relationships between the 17 variables and to reduce the data into a smaller set of underlying structures without appreciable information loss. Four clusters, representing 79% of the total variance, were obtained and named ‘acceptability measures’, ‘objective measures’, ‘ascorbic acid’, and ‘appearance measures’ according to the variables within each group. Acceptability, mouthfeel and flavor were the most important subjective measures while hue angle and moisture were the most important objective measures of postharvest quality.
Assessing Fingerprint Individuality in Presence of Noisy Minutiae

Fingerprint image quality is an important source of intraclass variability. When the underlying image quality is poor, human experts as well as automatic systems are more likely to make errors in minutiae detection and matching by either missing true features or detecting spurious ones. As a consequence, fingerprint individuality estimates change depending on the quality of the underlying images. The goal of this paper is to quantitatively study the effect of noise in minutiae detection and localization, resulting from varying image quality, on fingerprint individuality. The measure of fingerprint individuality is modeled as a function of image quality via a random effects model and methodology for the estimation of unknown parameters is developed in a Bayesian framework. Empirical results on two databases, one in-house and another publicly available, demonstrate how the measure of fingerprint individuality increases as image quality becomes poor. The measure corresponding to the ?12-point match? with 26 observed minutiae in the query and template fingerprints increases by several orders of magnitude when the fingerprint quality degrades from ?best? to ?poor?.
The Role of Transdisciplinary Collaboration in Translating and Disseminating Health Research: Lessons Learned and Exemplars of Success

In the past few decades, significant advances have been made related to understanding, preventing, and treating chronic disease. Given these many advances across multiple disciplines, it is unclear why the potential for yielding substantial reduction in disease has not been achieved overall and across various subgroups. Socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in a wide range of disease outcomes persist, and a number of studies highlight the importance of further improving behavioral risk-factor prevalence on a population level. The goal of this paper is to explore the role of transdisciplinary collaboration in the translation of research related to these vexing public health problems, and, in particular, to explore factors that appear to facilitate effective and sustainable translation. Transdisciplinary collaboration also has great potential to speed the rate of adoption of evidence-based practices. Examples of transdisciplinary collaborations in academic and community settings are provided, along with factors that may influence the long-term outcomes of transdisciplinary efforts.
The Future-Viewer visual environment for semantic characterization of video sequences

In this paper we address the problem of semi-automatic annotation of audio-visual sequences. Specifically, we propose the use of an innovative graphic framework, named Future-Viewer, to perform a quick and efficient annotation of a given multimedia document. The basic idea consists in visualising a 2-dimensional feature space in which the shots of the considered video sequence are located. In this window, shots with similar content fall near each other, and the proposed tool offers various functionalities for automatically and semi-automatically finding and annotating the shot clusters in such feature space. The proposed system has been used to analyze the content in terms of logical story units of few video sequences and the obtained results appear very interesting.
QELAR: A Q-learning-based Energy-Efficient and Lifetime-Aware Routing Protocol for Underwater Sensor Networks

Underwater sensor network (UWSN) has emerged as a promising network technique for various aquatic applications in recent years. Due to some constraints in UWSNs, such as high latency, low bandwidth and high energy consumption, it is challenging to build networking protocols for UWSNs. In this paper, we focus on addressing the routing issue in UWSNs. We propose an adaptive, energy-efficient, and lifetime-aware routing protocol based on reinforcement learning, QELAR. Our protocol assumes generic MAC protocols and aims at prolonging the lifetime of networks by making residual energy of sensor nodes more evenly distributed. The residual energy of each node as well as the energy distribution among a group is factored in throughout the routing process to calculate the reward function, which aids in selecting the adequate forwarders for packets. We have performed extensive simulations of the proposed protocol on the Aqua-sim platform, and compared with one existing routing protocol (VBF) in terms of packet delivery rate, energy efficiency, latency and lifetime. The results show that the QELAR protocol yields 20% longer lifetime on average than VBF.
Clustering Sequences with Hidden Markov Models

This paper discusses a probabilistic model-based approach to clustering sequences, using hidden Markov models (HMMs). The problem can be framed as a generalization of the standard mixture model approach to clustering in feature space. Two primary issues are addressed. First, a novel parameter initialization procedure is proposed, and second, the more difficult problem of determining the number of clusters K, from the data, is investigated. Experimental results indicate that the proposed techniques are useful for revealing hidden cluster structure in data sets of sequences.
Use of becaplermin in the closure of pharyngocutaneous fistulas.

Background. We report on the contribution of re- combinant platelet-derived growth factor-BB (becaplermin) in treating recalcitrant postlaryngectomy fistulas in two patients with head and neck cancer. Methods. Topical becaplermin was applied daily, with peri- odic wound assessment and photodocumentation. Results. The two patients with persistent fistula refractory to conventional management have demonstrated rapid improve- ment after topical application of becaplermin. Each wound ex- hibited an exuberant granulation response, with a 50% decrease in the size of wound at 1 week. The patients experienced even- tual closure, with none having local recurrence of their cancer at 2 years' follow-up. Conclusions. Becaplermin seems to be a promising addition to traditional methods of treatment for postlaryngectomy fistulas. In patients with delayed healing, future studies will be required to determine the overall efficacy of such biologic response modi- fiers in the treatment of pharyngocutaneous fistulas and other chronic wounds of the head and neck. A 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 27: 433-438, 2005