cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy of Protein Adsorption from Whole Blood: II. Ex Vivo Sheep Studies

The adsorption of proteins from ex vivo flowing sheep blood has been studied using FT-IR/ATR with spectra being collected at 0.8-s intervals of blood flow. We have found that protein adsorption can be divided into four adsorption regions: the first region being one of rapid adsorption of protein species such as albumin, an unknown protein species, glycoproteins, and some fibrinogen; in the second region, there is little increase in the total protein adsorbed, but there is evidence of protein replacement. Fibrinogen adsorption is the major event occurring in the third adsorption region, whereas the appearance of red blood cells and platelets marks the fourth region. Such knowledge of protein composition at various times in the adsorption process is providing molecular level information on thrombosis occurring on surfaces.
Policing underage alcohol sales

This study evaluates an enforcement program targeted at licensed retail sellers of alcohol. The program was a sting or decoy operation in which underage police cadets attempted to purchase packaged beer at randomly selected grocery, convenience, liquor, and drug stores in Denver, Colorado. Stores that sold alcohol to the underage purchasers were subject to fines and beverage license suspensions. During baseline, cadets purchased beer 59% of the time. The purchase rates for successive waves of enforcement conducted over the next 10 months were 32%, 26%, and 26%.
Perceived Sex Knowledge, Exposure to Eroticism, and Premarital Sexual Behavior: the Impact of Dating*

The antecedents of premarital sexual behavior are examined using interview data from a national probability sample of 1,177 American college students. I hypothesize that a positive relationship exists between perceived sex knowledge, exposure to eroticism, dating experiences, and premarital sexual behavior. Dating frequency, intimacy, and related circumstances are proposed as powerful explanatory variables in understanding the developmental process leading to increased socio-sexual involvement. Data are provided which confirm the hypotheses and lend support to the theory that a complex social-psychological network of variables, centering around the opportunity and pressures associated with dating and peer group experiences, influences premarital sexual behavior.
Noble Gas Separation using PG-ESX (X=1,2,3) Nanoporous Two-dimensional Polymers

Using planewave pseudopotential density functional theory and classical molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the transport of noble gases through a family of two-dimensional hydrocarbon polymer membranes that generalize the “porous graphene” (PG) material synthesized by Bieri et al. by insertion of (E)-stilbene (ES) groups. We find that density functional theory overestimates the barrier height and empirical dispersion corrections underestimate the barrier height, compared to reference MP2/cc-pVTZ calculations on PG. The barrier height for noble gas transport is greatly reduced from PG to PG-ES1, but additional increases in the size of the pore in PG-ES2 and PG-ES3 lead to an attractive potential well instead of a repulsive barrier. Using the computed potential energy surfaces, we compute pressure- and temperature-driven tunneling probabilities of He isotopes, and refit an improved classical force-field. Using classical molecular dynamics simulations, we find that PG-ES1 has an He permeance of 6...
Outlining social physics for modern societies—locating culture, economics, and politics: The Enlightenment reconsidered

A groundwork is laid for a formulation of the modern human social system as a field continuum. As in a simple material physical field, the independent implied relationships of materials or processes in flux have to be based on local conservations of mass, energy, and momentum. In complex fields, the transport fluctuations of momentum are transformed into action modes (e.g., [unk] pdq = ΣHi = H, a characteristic quantum of action over a characteristic cycle time). In complex living systems, a fourth local conservation of population number, the demographic variable, has to be added as a renormalized variable. Modern man, settled in place via agriculture, urbanized, and engaged largely in trade and war, invents a fifth local conservation—value-in-trade, the economic variable. The potentials that drive these five fluxes are also enumerated. Among the more evident external and internal physical-chemical potentials, the driving potentials include a sheaf of internal potential-like components that represent the command-control system emergent as politics. In toto, culture represents the social solvent with the main processes of economics and politics being driven by a social pressure.
Generating magnetic fields stronger than 100 teslas using solenoids on COBRA

The MagLIK [1] concept relies on magnetic field compression to limit electron losses to the liner wall and reach fusion parameters. To measure magnetic field compression, B-dot probes could be used at the beginning of the implosions. However, this probe will fail as the magnetic field becomes large when the liner compresses. Our goal is to create a 100T field on COBRA to check B-dot probe design integrity [2] as the magnetic field increases. We used two solenoids, oriented along the same axis, to produce this strong uniform magnetic field. By altering multiple parameters, such as winding density, turn radius, and distance between the coils, strong magnetic fields can be created with the pulsed power generator COBRA. With IMA 100ns current rise time we were able to produce fields larger than 50 teslas. Using visual simulation software, multiple simulations were run to determine ideal values for these parameters to obtain a magnetic field strength of 100 teslas between the coils. Once these parameters were found the coils were made and mounted on COBRA, the magnetic field strength between the coils was measured using a B-dot probe. Using laser interferometry and XUV measurements from plasma self-emission, we observed that plasma was not shorting the coil windings or the space between the two coils.
La différence. Long-term benefit of one thrombolytic over another.

Recanalization of coronary arteries, induced by either thrombolytic therapy or angioplasty, has revolutionized the management of acute myocardial infarction. The mean in-hospital death rate for patients who reach the hospital in time and receive thrombolytic therapy is ≈6% to 7%.1 This is a dramatic reduction compared with the death rate in the 1960s of 30% to 35%. Thrombolytic therapy is easy to administer and is carried out routinely in community hospitals throughout North America and many other parts of the world. In addition to the reduced death rate, there is likely to be a reduced morbidity; however, this is more difficult to prove. Clinical trials to date on thrombolytics have concentrated on mortality, in part because this is the major, if not the sole, end point required by the Food and Drug Administration to approve a new drug. In the original Global Utilization of t-PA and Streptokinase for Occluded Coronary Arteries (GUSTO-I) trial,1 the 41 021 patients who were enrolled received one of four thrombolytic agents. Patients who had ST-segment elevation and presented within 6 hours of onset were enrolled unless there was a contraindication. Enrollment had no age limit and included patients in cardiogenic shock and those with previous bypass surgery; thus, this population was highly representative of the patient population at large presenting with acute myocardial infarction. The overall objective of GUSTO-I was to compare four thrombolytic regimens: streptokinase followed by subcutaneous heparin, streptokinase followed by intravenous heparin, tissue plasminogen activator (TPA*) ≤100 mg given over 60 minutes followed by intravenous heparin, and a combination of intravenous TPA and streptokinase followed by intravenous heparin. All patients received aspirin and atenolol if there were no contraindications. The 30-day mortality rate in that trial was 6.3% for patients who received accelerated TPA, 7.2% for those receiving streptokinase and subcutaneous …
How much can business expect to profit from smoking cessation

The data reviewed in this article, drawn from well-known, published sources; offer an estimate of the annual costs of smoking to the average employer. These costs range from +336 to +601 in January 1980 dollars per average smoking employee. The analysis is largely based on aggregate epidemiological data and, in general, the emphasis is on the under-estimating of the costs to business. It reports "averages" true for large populations and, therefore, is not individually predictive. The cost centers dealt with are insurance, medical, and others such as absenteeism, productivity, involuntary smoking, and occupational health risk. Included is a discussion of employer-sponsored smoking cessation programs and the benefits therefrom.
Clinical and genetic high-risk strategies in understanding vulnerability to psychosis

Neurodevelopmental processes active during the adolescent period have been hypothesized to participate in the deterioration in functioning associated with the onset of schizophrenia. A number of studies are now underway evaluating individuals in an ultra high-risk clinical state with neuroimaging assessments repeatedly over time, to determine whether particular neural changes predict an imminent onset of psychosis. However, the results of such studies will be difficult to interpret without reference to studies examining the distribution of these neural indicators in the non-clinically-affected first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia. Recent work deriving primarily from twin and family studies (i.e., genetic high-risk designs) indicates that some of the alterations in brain function and structure in schizophrenia are primarily genetically mediated and also appear in some of their unaffected first-degree relatives, while other alterations are present in individuals who manifest the illness phenotype but not in relatives at genetic risk. Whereas the primarily genetically mediated deficits shared by at-risk but non-symptomatic relatives are not likely to show differential change in the premorbid period, and may be necessary but clearly not sufficient for the development of psychotic symptoms, the deficits specific to patients who manifest the illness phenotype are good candidates for marking the neurobiological processes associated with the emergence of psychotic symptoms at the time of schizophrenia onset. Preliminary results from longitudinal studies of individuals ascertained initially in a prodromal (i.e., "clinical high-risk") state appear to be interpretable within this framework.
Risk of hand-foot skin reaction with sorafenib: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background. Hand-foot skin reaction (HFSR) is a dose-limiting toxicity associated with sorafenib, an oral multi-kinase inhibitor with clinical activity against solid tumors. This study was conducted to determine the risk of developing HFSR among patients receiving sorafenib. Patients and Methods. Databases from Pubmed, Web of Science, and abstracts presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meetings from 2004 through July, 2007 were searched to identify relevant studies. Eligible studies were prospective clinical trials using single agent sorafenib. The summary incidence rate and the relative risk (RR) were calculated using random-effects model. Results. A total of 4 883 patients in 11 trials with metastatic tumors were included for analysis. Among patients receiving sorafenib, the summary incidence of all-grade HFSR was 33.8% (95% CI: 24.5–44.7%) with significant difference between patients with RCC and non-RCC malignancy (RR 1.52, 95% CI: 1.32–1.75%, p<0.001). The incidence of high-gr...
The Thought Experiment of Maxwell’s Demon and the Origin of Irreversibility

The problem of the irreversibility’s origin in thermodynamic processes occupies a distinguished place among many and lasting attempts by researchers to derive irreversibility from molecular-mechanical principles. However, this problem is still open and no universally accepted solution may be given during any course. In this paper, I shall try to show that the examining of Maxwell’s demon thought experiment may provide insight into the difficulties that emerge, looking for this origin because: (i) it is connected with the notion of irreversibility, and (ii) one of its functions is that of the “reversibility objection.” In order to illustrate this point, I study Boltzmann’s approach to the problem of a molecular-mechanical interpretation of irreversibility and I show that an auxiliary assumption (the selected direction of time) is responsible for producing irreversibility. But this result is accordant with the predictions of Maxwell’s demon thought experiment: the assumptions of this kind are not dictated by molecular-mechanical principles but are separate input in the model-systems used.
THE HORIZONTAL-VERTICAL ILLUSION: INDEPENDENCE OF LINE BISECTION AND A COMPARISON LINE

Undergraduate students in social science and architecture did not differ in their accuracy of adjusting the vertical lines of L and inverted-T figures to be equal to a 1-in. horizontal line (the adjustment task) or in producing a 1 in. long line in the vertical or horizontal plane on a blank sheet of paper (the production task). In the adjustment task vertical lines were made significantly shorter than the horizontal comparison line and the shortening of the vertical line was significantly greater for the inverted-T than for the L-figure. In the production task lines drawn in the horizontal plane did not differ significantly from 1 inch but those drawn in the vertical plane were significantly shorter than 1 inch. Further, the magnitude of this error was equal to that obtained with the inverted-T figure. These results demonstrate that, while line bisection (the bisection of the horizontal by the vertical in the inverted-T figure) contributes to the horizontal-vertical illusion, the illusion clearly exists in the absence of a comparison line and can be accounted for as an overestimation of the vertical line.
Mutations in the NS5A region do not predict interferon-responsiveness in American patients infected with genotype 1b hepatitis C virus

A striking association has been demonstrated recently between mutations in amino acid residues 2209–2248 of the nonstructural protein 5a (NS5a) region of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and sustained responses to interferon in Japanese patients infected with genotype 1b. Therefore, analysis of this sequence has been suggested as a predictor of treatment response. We sought to determine whether mutations in this region predict outcome in U.S. patients infected with genotype 1b hepatitis C virus (HCV-1b). We analyzed stored pretreatment sera retrospectively from 22 patients with HCV-1b infection who had received interferon alpha-2b (IFNα-2b) as part of a controlled trial. Two patients were sustained responders (SR), 7 were transient responders (TR), and 13 were nonresponders (NR). We performed nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on extracted RNA using primers flanking HCV amino acids 2209–2248 and sequenced the PCR products directly. The deduced amino acid sequences were compared with the prototype HCV-J. Isolates with four or more deviations from the prototype were defined as “mutant” type, those with one to three substitutions as “intermediate” type, and those matching the prototype as “wildtype.” Of the 22 HCV-1b isolates, 6 were wildtype, 11 intermediate type, and 5 mutant type. Both of the SRs were intermediate type. The 20 TRs and NRs were distributed among mutant (5), intermediate (9), and wildtype (6). Of the five patients with mutant virus, four were NR and one a TR. Variation in NS5a2209–2248 fails to predict interferon responsiveness in this cohort of American patients infected with HCV-1b. Thus, the utility of this sequence as a predictor of interferon responsiveness appears to be specific to Japanese patients and may reflect differences between patient groups in treatment regimens, host genetic background, or alterations in the interferon signaling pathway induced by surrounding sequences within or outside NS5a. Overall, NS5a is not as integral a determinant of interferon responsiveness as previously suggested. J. Med. Virol. 58:353–358, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A simple approach to nonlinear state feedback design

Global state feedback controllers that asymptotically and robustly stabilize a nonlinear system are derived from the solution of inequalities obtained directly from the controlled system's equation.
Process and the Sport Experience

Modernized sport emphasizes the product, the measurable results of competition. This paper examines the process in sport and in particular, the aspect of struggle. Several possibilities exist for developing a sport ethos where process is understood and valued. Practitioners need to cultivate an intimate relationship with their respective practice and reflect on the process as they play. An additional method involves promoting process through narrative. Approaching sport with an appreciation for process creates space for improving sport. Practitioners may observe and experience a wide variety of sport values. Because of this understanding, they are more likely to appreciate their practice and take great strides to uphold its ethical framework. Finally, they gain knowledge of the entire continuum of sport experience.
The effect of insulin and epinephrine on rat parotid glycogen.

Abstract The glycogen content of rat parotid gland has been determined. It averaged 83 ± 3 mg per cent in untreated, fasted animals. As the blood glucose is elevated glycogen is deposited in the gland, reaching a maximum when the blood glucose is about 500 or 600 mg per cent. Insulin significantly increases parotid glycogen at all blood sugar levels. Epinephrine lowers it at high blood sugar concentrations.
Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated polysulfone membranes for direct methanol fuel cells

Abstract Sulfonated polysulfones (SPSf) with different degree of sulfonation (DS) have been synthesized and evaluated as proton exchange membranes in direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The membranes have been characterized by ion exchange capacity (IEC), proton conductivity, liquid uptake, and single DMFC polarization measurements. The proton conductivities of the SPSf membranes increase with increasing sulfonation, but are lower than that of Nafion 115. Within the range of sulfonation of 50–70%, the SPSf membranes exhibit better performances in DMFC than Nafion 115 at lower methanol concentrations (1 M) despite lower proton conductivities due to suppressed methanol permeability and crossover. However, the performances of SPSf membranes at higher methanol concentrations (2 M) are inferior to that of Nafion 115 at current densities higher than about 50 mA cm −2 as the suppression in methanol crossover could not quite compensate for the lower proton conductivities.
Transcoding: extending e-business to new environments

The promise of e-business is coming true: both businesses and individuals are using the Web to buy products and services. Both want to extend the reach of e-business to new environments. Customers want to check accounts, access information, and make purchases with their cellular phones, pagers, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Banks, airlines, and retailers are competing to provide the most ubiquitous, convenient service for their customers. Web applications designed to take advantage of the rich rendering capabilities of advanced desktop browsers on large displays do not generally render effectively on the small screens available on phones and PDAs. Some devices have little or no graphics capability, or they require different markup languages, such as Wireless Markup Language (WML), for text presentation. Transcoding is technology for adapting content to match constraints and preferences associated with specific environments. This paper compares and contrasts different approaches to content adaptation, including authoring different versions to accommodate different environments, using application server technology such as JavaServer pagesTM (JSPTM) to create multiple versions of dynamic applications, and dynamically transcoding information generated by a single application. For dynamic transcoding, the paper describes several different transcoding methodologies employed by the IBM WebSphereTM Transcoding Publisher product, including HyperText Markup Language (HTML) simplification, Extensible Markup Language stylesheet selection and application, HTML conversion to WML, WML deck fragmentation, and image transcoding. The paper discusses how to decide whether transcoding should be performed at the content source or in a network intermediary. It also describes a means of identifying the device and network characteristics associated with a request and using that information to decide how to transcode the response. Finally, the paper discusses the need for new networking benchmarks to characterize the server load and performance characteristics for dynamic transcoding.
On the Secrecy Capacity of Block Fading Channels with a Hybrid Adversary

We consider a block fading wiretap channel, where a transmitter attempts to send messages securely to a receiver in the presence of a hybrid half-duplex adversary, which arbitrarily decides to either jam or eavesdrop the transmitter-to-receiver channel. We provide bounds to the secrecy capacity for various possibilities on receiver feedback and show special cases where the bounds are tight. We show that, without any feedback from the receiver, the secrecy capacity is zero if the transmitter-to-adversary channel stochastically dominates the effective transmitter-to-receiver channel. However, the secrecy capacity is nonzero even when the receiver is allowed to feed back only one bit at the end of each block. Our novel achievable strategy improves the rates proposed in the literature for the nonhybrid adversarial model. We also analyze the effect of multiple adversaries and delay constraints on the secrecy capacity. We show that our novel time sharing approach leads to positive secrecy rates even under strict delay constraints.
A TALE OF TWO CONTROVERSIES: DISSONANCE IN THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF RATIONALITY

. The relation between rationality in science and rationality in moral discourse is of interest to philosophers and sociologists of science, to educators and moral philosophers. Apparently conflicting conceptions of rationality can be detected at the core of two current socio-educational controversies: the creationievolution controversy and that concerning “moral education.” This paper takes as its starting point the recorded views of participants in these controversies; exhibits the contradictions and their effect on the public; relates these contradictions to developments in the philosophy and history of science; and suggests, in a preliminary way, one approach for dealing with the problem.
Mid-Mesozoic Multiphase Folding Along the Border of the Shuswap Metamorphic Complex

The high-grade regional metamorphism of the extensive Shuswap metamorphic complex of southeastern British Columbia has been considered by most geologists to be Precambrian in age. On the basis of structural analysis, it is now apparent that low-grade Triassic rocks of the nearby Slocan Group have undergone the same three generations of folding as the Shuswap, beginning with that accompanying regional metamorphism. Intense isoclinal recumbent folding of the first generation accompanied regional metamorphism and development of a schistosity parallel to the axial surfaces of these folds and a penetrative lineation parallel to their axes. Following regional metamorphism, a second deformation, accompanying formation of nearly upright macroscopic folds, formed a strain-slip cleavage by crenulation of the schistosity. Subsequent intrusion of granitic plutons developed mesoscopic folds having coplanar axes in any single domain. This third deformation refolded the nearly constant eastward plunge of earlier folds and lineations into small cones. Deformation accompanying regional metamorphism of the Shuswap complex must have occurred since the Triassic and probably during the Jurassic period.
Games for Health Conference 2004: Issues, Trends, and Needs Unique to Games for Health

The first-ever Games for Health Conference (Madison, WI, September 16–17, 2004) identified issues, trends, and needs unique to games for healthcare. More than 130 doctors, educators, therapists, and game makers gathered to share experiences particular to the health industry, health practioners, and patient treatment. Co-sponsored by Games for Health, Project of the Serious Games Initiative, the Academic ADL Co-Lab, and the Federation of American Scientists, the conference highlighted applications for direct patient care and therapy, as well as health education, policy, and management ideas. This paper presents key concepts from the conference's panel discussions and summarizes successful projects demonstrated at the conference that can serve as models for the field.
Violence, wuxia, migrants: Jia Zhangke's cinematic discontent in A Touch of Sin

This article examines the representation of violence in Jia Zhangke's film A Touch of Sin (2013) in light of Žižek's theory of ‘objective violence’ and the wuxia tradition. Jia attempts to understand the rise of individual violent incidents during China's post-socialist transformations by laying out the social, historical and political milieus in which they take place. He unveils the Žižekian objective violence hidden in the realm of social normality, pinpointing the country's sins of collusion with the global capital to impose injustice on the poor and disadvantaged. Invoking the wuxia genre, Jia portrays the protagonists not so much as perpetrators of violence but as xia, knights-errant, who demonstrate a precious spirit of rebellion that the contemporary ethos tends to lack. Focusing on often overlooked emotional experiences, Jia offers a humanist insight into the depths of these people's despair, isolation and humiliation. Jia, thereby, makes his film a poignant critique of the dominant ideology that ...
Examination of mode shapes in an unstable model combustor

Abstract The coupling between the fluid dynamics, heat addition, and the acoustics of a combustor system determine whether it is prone toward combustion instability. This paper presents results from a benchmark study of the eigenmodes in an unstable experimental combustor. The axisymmetric combustor configuration is representative of a number of practical systems and comprises an injector tube, geometric expansion into a combustion chamber, and a short converging nozzle. Instability limit cycle amplitudes ranged from 5% to nearly 50% of the mean 2.2 MPa pressure. Multiple harmonics were measured for the highly unstable cases. The model combustor was designed to provide a fairly comprehensive set of tested effects: sonic vs subsonic inlets; oxidizer tube lengths that were either quarter-wave, half-wave, or off-resonant acoustic equivalents to the combustion chamber; a significant injector mean flow with Ma ∼0.4; and a varied combustion chamber length. The measured mode shape data were analyzed and reduced to provide comparison with results from a linearized one-dimensional Euler model, which included the effects of real boundary conditions, entropy generation, area change, and heat and mass addition, but did not include a model for unsteady heat addition. For low-amplitude instabilities, the measured resonance frequencies agreed with those calculated by the model for the injector tube-combustion chamber system. Resonance frequencies for the high-amplitude oscillation cases corresponded to the first longitudinal frequency of the combustion chamber and its integer multiples. Good quantitative agreement was obtained between computed and measured phase difference profiles, and mode envelopes agreed qualitatively. These results provide a basis for subsequent combustion response studies on the effects of unsteady heat addition.
Prevalence of clinically relevant bacteremia after upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in bone marrow transplant recipients.

Abstract purpose: To determine the prevalence of clinically relevant bacteremia after upper endoscopy in patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation. patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 151 patients who received an HLA-identical allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) at the Seattle Veterans Affairs Medical Center between September 1983 and December 1988. Forty-seven patients who required esophago-gastroduodenoscopy (EGD) during their first 100 days after transplant were selected for evaluation. Clinically relevant bacteremia was defined as the development of hypotension, temperature greater than 38.5°C, and a positive blood culture occurring within 24 hours after endoscopy. The presence of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) at the time of endoscopy and the use of prednisone prior to endoscopy were considered possible risk factors for the development of bacteremia. The proportion of subjects who became bacteremic were compared using Fisher's exact test. results: Within 24 hours following endoscopy, nine patients (19%) developed clinically evident bacteremia (hypotension, temperature greater than 38.5°C, and a positive blood culture). Eight of 14 patients receiving prednisone at the time of endoscopy developed bacteremia, compared to one of 33 not receiving prednisone (p 0.9), the risk of bacteremia was particularly high in patients with acute GVHD treated with prednisone at the time of EGD (six of seven). conclusion: Allogeneic BMT recipients receiving prednisone for immunoprophylaxis after grafting or for treatment of acute GVHD are at high risk for clinically relevant bacteremia following EGD. Such patients are candidates for antibiotic prophylaxis prior to endoscopy.
Altruistic and Vicarious Fear of Crime: Fear for Others and Gendered Social Roles

Fear for others as distinct from personal fear is an understudied phenomenon. Relying on qualitative data, this paper explores gender differences in fear for others and identifies differences linked to social roles. For men, a paternal protector role characterized fears expressed mostly for their wives. For women, a maternal caretaker role characterized fears expressed for their children, elderly parents, and siblings. This paper offers a new way to conceptualize fear for others based on making distinctions between the object of fear and active or nonactive responses: kinship-based altruistic fear, kinship-based vicarious fear, general altruistic fear, and general vicarious fear.
Sequence dependence and characteristics of bends induced by site- specific polynuclear aromatic carcinogen - Deoxyguanosine lesions in oligonucleotides

The tumorigenic metabolite of benzo[a]pyrene, the (+)-7R,8S,9S,10R enantiomer, and the nontumorigenic mirror-image isomer, (−)-7S,8R,9R,10S, of r7,t8-dihydroxy-t9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (anti-BPDE) bind covalently to the exocyclic amino group of deoxyguanosine (N2-dG) in native DNA. These adducts can cause structural perturbations such as DNA bends, which in turn may influence the cellular processing of these lesions. The characteristics of bends in site-specifically modified oligodeoxyribonucleotide duplexes induced by single (+)- and (−)-anti-[BP]-N2-dG lesions were examined by self-ligation and gel electrophoresis techniques. The modified residues (dG*) were centrally positioned in the 11-mer oligonucleotide d(CACAXG*XACAC) complexed with the natural complementary strands, with X = T or C, or in oligonucleotides 16 or 22 base pairs long with the same centrally positioned 11-mer. Among the four stereochemically distinct lesions, the 10S (+)-trans-anti-[BP]-N2-dG adducts were signific...
Reduced body weight is a common effect of gene knockout in mice

During a search for obesity candidate genes in a small region of the mouse genome, we noticed that many genes when knocked out influence body weight. To determine whether this was a general feature of gene knockout or a chance occurrence, we surveyed the Jackson Laboratory Mouse Genome Database for knockout mouse strains and their phenotypes. Body weights were not available for all strains so we also obtained body weight information by contacting a random sample of investigators responsible for a knockout strain. We classified each knockout mouse strain as (1) lighter and smaller, (2) larger and heavier, or (3) the same weight, relative to control mice. We excluded knockout strains that died early in life, even though this type of lethality is often associated with a small embryo or reduced body size. Based on a dataset of 1,977 knockout strains, we found that that 31% of viable knockout mouse strains weighed less and an additional 3% weighed more than did controls. Body weight is potentially a latent variable in about a third of experiments that use knockout mice and should be considered in interpreting experimental outcomes, e.g., in studies of hypertension, drug and hormone metabolism, organ development, cell proliferation and apoptosis, digestion, heart rate, or atherosclerosis. If we assume that the knockout genes we surveyed are representative then upward of 6,000 genes are predicted to influence the size of a mouse. Body weight is highly heritable, and numerous quantitative trait loci have been mapped in mice, but "multigenic" is an insufficient term for the thousands of loci that could contribute to this complex trait.
Advanced multilayer epitaxial structures

Abstract Epitaxial growth is being applied to form increasingly complex multilayer/multimaterial structures that have the potential for major advances in electronic and optical devices. These structures, which include single crystal multimaterial composites, superlattices, and metastable compositions of phases, are discussed with emphasis on their method of preparation and potential applications.
Arylsulfimide Polymers. V. Polysaccharins of the A-B Type

Abstract 6-Aminosaccharin and related monomers were subjected to polymerization as melts and in solvents. The products from these studies passed through soluble, hemipolymer stages corresponding to polyamide structures before being cyclized at higher temperatures to the final, insoluble, thermally stable polymers. Melt polymerization of 6-aminosaccharin as the triethylamine salt was the preferred procedure and yielded products of highest intrinsic viscosity (0.431 dl/g in N,N-dimethylacetamide).
Schema blending and stable structure in online social systems

Autonomous online social systems can emerge from the interaction between the stable social practices of soliciting and eavesdropping when they are performed online. These practices are distributed manifestations of the stable mental operation of conceptual blending. The technology mediating the communication in the practices must be polymorphic, noisy and open.
Adoption and Meaningful Use of Computerized Physician Order Entry With an Integrated Clinical Decision Support System for Radiology: Ten-Year Analysis in an Urban Teaching Hospital

Purpose The aim of this study was to assess whether an integrated imaging computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system with embedded decision support for imaging can be accepted clinically. Methods The study was performed in a health care delivery network with an affiliated academic hospital. After pilot testing and user feedback, a Web-enabled CPOE system with embedded imaging decision support was phased into clinical use between 2000 and 2010 across outpatient, emergency department, and inpatient settings. The primary outcome measure was meaningful use, defined as the proportion of imaging studies performed with orders electronically created (EC) or electronically signed by an authorized provider. The secondary outcome measure was adoption, defined as the proportion of imaging studies that were ordered electronically, irrespective of who entered the order in the CPOE system. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed to estimate trends and the significance of practice settings, examination modality, and body part to outcome measures. Chi-square statistics were used to assess differences across specialties. Results A total of 4.1 million imaging studies were performed during the study period. From 2000 to 2010, significant increases in meaningful use (for EC studies, from 0.4% to 61.9%; for electronically signed studies, from 0.4% to 92.2%; P P Conclusions Imaging CPOE with embedded decision support integrated into the IT infrastructure of the health care enterprise and clinicians' workflow can be broadly accepted clinically.
Xp22.2-3 loss of heterozygosity is associated with germline BRCA1 mutation in ovarian cancer.

Abstract Objective. X-Chromosome loss of heterozygosity (LOH) occurs in approximately 40% of ovarian cancers. We have previously demonstrated an association between nonrandom X-chromosome inactivation and germline BRCA1 mutation. The current study examines the association between X-chromosome LOH and BRCA1 mutation. Methods. Ninety tumor DNA (81 ovary, 5 fallopian tube, 4 primary peritoneal) and matched peripheral blood mononuclear cell DNA samples were examined for LOH with 11 X-chromosome microsatellite DNA markers. Results. Tumor DNA demonstrated frequent LOH at the Xp22.2-3 region (37.7% at DXS6807 ). Loss of heterozygosity on Xp was twice as common in tumor DNA from germline BRCA1 mutation carriers (9/14 vs 19/67, P = 0.02). In four evaluable samples, Xp22.2-3 LOH preferentially occurred from the active X allele. Conclusions. Our data support the hypothesis that an Xp22.2-3 gene product interacts with or modifies the expression of BRCA1 in some hereditary ovarian cancers.
Photorearrangement of 4-alkyl-4-alkoxy-2, 5-cyclohexadienones: synthesis of 4-(alkyldimethoxymethyl)cyclopent-2-en-1-ones

Abstract The irradiation of 4-alkyl-4-alkoxy-2, 5-cyclohexadienones 3a - d at 366 nm in methanol affords 4-(alkyldimethoxymethyl)cyclopent-2-en-1-ones 5a - d .
Concurrent Engineer-To-Order operation in the Manufacturing Engineering Contracting industries

This paper presents the concurrent Engineer-To-Order (ETO) concept. ETO is a Make-To-Order operation that starts with a product specification and finishes with delivery of a customised product. By synchronising the production activities in a product development process, a concurrent ETO operation can effectively improve and assure the product development lead time. This paper defines its relevance to other contemporary manufacturing operation concepts and proposes a concurrent ETO operation framework. It details the interactions among the sales, production, engineering, and manufacturing operations with a focus on hierarchical planning, incremental scheduling, and operation control.
The United States, Ethiopia and the 1963 Somali–Soviet arms deal: containment and the balance of power dilemma in the Horn of Africa

The early years of the East–West Cold War in sub-Saharan Africa are remembered for the violence surrounding the 1960–1 Congo crisis. While the crisis in the Congo threatened to spin out of control, on 6 January 1961 Nikita Khrushchev delivered his secret ‘sacred wars of national liberation’ speech, which suggested that Moscow intended to undermine Western influence in the region by fanning war and subversion. Despite the nasty turn of events in the Congo and Khrushchev's blustery rhetoric, Soviet activities in sub-Saharan African remained limited in scope and within the bounds of ‘peaceful coexistence’. Moscow sought to challenge Western hegemony in the region by offering economic and military assistance to developing countries, ‘free from any political or military obligations’. Although Moscow first targeted the radical West African governments in Ghana, Guinea, and Mali, as part of his break with Stalinist orthodoxy Khrushchev was also willing to extend Moscow's ‘friendly hand’ to moderate African countries.Moscow achieved an important strategic breakthrough within the moderate African camp in November 1963, when the Republic of Somalia announced that it would accept a $30 million military aid offer from the Soviet Union, thereby foiling an attempt by the West to preclude Soviet military aid to Somalia. During 1962–3, a consortium of Western powers, led by the United States, had presented a series of arms packages of increasing value to Mogadishu. This was done over the strong protests of Washington's long-time ally in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopian Emperor Haile-Selassie. But in the end, Moscow won the bidding war for Somalia by raising the arms ‘ante’ to a level which the Western powers were unwilling to match, owing to Washington's fear that to do so would jeopardise strategically vital US base rights in Ethiopia and provoke Haile-Selassie to adopt a less moderate voice in African affairs.Although students of the Cold War in Africa are familiar with this general outline of the 1963 Soviet–Somali arms deal, scant attention has been paid to the behind-the-scenes manoeuvres and bureaucratic conflicts arising over the efforts of the Kennedy administration to dissuade Somalia from accepting military assistance from the Eastern bloc. A more probing analysis of this event is instructive in furthering our understanding of future developments in the Horn of Africa.
Varicella-Zoster Virus-Specific Immunity after Herpes Zoster

The frequency of varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-specific T lymphocytes was higher in elderly subjects who had herpes zoster infections than in age-matched controls. This increase in T cell response persisted for at least 2 years while antibody levels to VZV returned to control values at this time. There were no differences in T cell or antibody responses to VZV between individuals with and without postherpetic neuralgia. Elderly subjects who had not had herpes zoster had a comparable increase in VZV-specific T responder cell frequency after immunization with Oka strain VZV. The data suggest that the potential for a boost in T cell response to VZV persists in the elderly, and that immunization can elicit a T cell response in this age group.
Scattering by a narrow perfectly conducting infinite strip in a gyroelectric medium

The scattering of a plane electromagnetic wave of wave-number k by a perfectly conducting infinite strip of width 2a is investigated for the case in which the surrounding medium is gyroelectric. The gyroelectric axis is assumed to be parallel to the edges of the strip. The problem is formulated in terms of an integral equation whose solution is obtained in the form of a series in powers of ka . Expressions for the far-zone fields and the first two terms in the series for the total scattering cross section are obtained.
Molecular analysis of SCARECROW function reveals a radial patterning mechanism common to root and shoot

Mutation of the SCARECROW (SCR) gene results in a radial pattern defect, loss of a ground tissue layer, in the root. Analysis of the shoot phenotype of scr mutants revealed that both hypocotyl and shoot inflorescence also have a radial pattern defect, loss of a normal starch sheath layer, and consequently are unable to sense gravity in the shoot. Analogous to its expression in the endodermis of the root, SCR is expressed in the starch sheath of the hypocotyl and inflorescence stem. The SCR expression pattern in leaf bundle sheath cells and root quiescent center cells led to the identification of additional phenotypic defects in these tissues. SCR expression in a pin-formed mutant background suggested the possible origins of the starch sheath in the shoot inflorescence. Analysis of SCR expression and the mutant phenotype from the earliest stages of embryogenesis revealed a tight correlation between defective cell divisions and SCR expression in cells that contribute to ground tissue radial patterning in both embryonic root and shoot. Our data provides evidence that the same molecular mechanism regulates the radial patterning of ground tissue in both root and shoot during embryogenesis as well as postembryonically.
Citrus Limonoids Induce Apoptosis in Human Neuroblastoma Cells and Have Radical Scavenging Activity

Citrus limonoid glucosides, a family of fruit bioactive compounds, were postulated to have free radical-scavenging and apoptosis-inducing properties against certain types of cancers. Four highly purified limonoid glucosides, limoin 17beta D-glucopypranoside (LG), obacunone 17beta D-glucopyranoside (OG), nomilinic acid 17beta D-glucopyranoside (NAG), and deacetylnomilinic acid 17beta D-glucopyranoside (DNAG) were tested for superoxide radical (O(2)(-))-quenching activity and cytotoxic action against undifferentiated human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells in culture. All 4 scavenged O(2)(-) as measured by inhibition of pyrogallol decomposition in a spectrophotometric assay. Quenching by NAG in particular emulated an equivalent concentration of vitamin C. When added to the medium of SH-SY5Y cells in culture, micromolar amounts of LG and OG, compared with untreated controls, caused a cessation of cell growth and rapid cell death (P < 0.001); NAG and DNAG were better tolerated, but nonetheless toxic as well. Cytotoxicity was related to a concentration- and time-dependent increase in caspase 3/7 activity, suggesting that limonoid glucosides were capable of inducing apoptosis. Arrested cell growth and the induction of apoptosis were confirmed by flow cytometry and DNA fragmentation analysis. Importantly, caspase induction at 12 h correlated with cell survival at 24 h (P = 0.046), suggesting that apoptosis was the primary cause of cell death. We conclude that citrus limonoid glucosides are toxic to SH-SY5Y cancer cells. Cytotoxicity is exerted through apoptosis by an as yet unknown mechanism of induction. Individual limonoid glucosides differ in efficacy as anticancer agents, and this difference may reside in structural variations in the A ring of the limonoid molecule.
Discrete periodic melting point observations for nanostructure ensembles

We report a study of the thermodynamic properties of indium clusters on a $\mathrm{SiN}{}_{x}$ surface during the early stages of thin film growth using a sensitive nanocalorimetry technique. The measurements reveal the presence of abnormal discontinuities in the heat of melting below $100\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\mathrm{C}$. These discontinuities, for which temperature separation corresponds to a spatial periodicity equal to the thickness of an indium monolayer, are found to be related to the atomic ``magic numbers,'' i.e., the number of atoms necessary to form a complete shell of atoms at particle surface.
Integrating parameter selection with experimental design under uncertainty for nonlinear dynamic systems

Models describing complex processes often contain a large number of parameters as part of the nonlinear system. It is usually not possible in practice to identify all parameters because of the number and quality of measurement data as well as interactions among the parameters. A common approach is to select a set of parameters for estimation whereas other parameters are fixed at their nominal values. Such a parameter selection procedure is often based on sensitivity analysis; however, the determined sensitivity values depend on assumed values of the parameters and initial states, as well as known trajectories of the input signals. In this work parameter selection and experiment design procedures are integrated into a unified framework, which optimizes a criterion of the Fisher information matrix and simultaneously takes the effect of uncertainty in the parameter values into account. A hybrid method combining a genetic algorithm and a simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation is developed to solve the resulting mixed-integer nonlinear programming problem. The technique is illustrated on a model of a continuously-stirred tank reactor and of a signal transduction pathway. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2008