cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chronic Oral Exposure to Bunker C Fuel Oil Causes Adrenal Insufficiency in Ranch Mink (Mustela vison)

Animals living in the near-shore marine environment are predisposed to contact with chemical contaminants through land- and ocean-based activities. The release of petroleum hydrocarbons into the marine environment is a stressor to this environment and its resident wildlife. The stress response to chemical threats is dependent on an intact hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which also may be a target to the effects of these chemicals. Ranch mink (Mustela vison) were used as surrogates for sea otters (Enhydra lutris) to examine the development of adrenal hypertrophy after chronic, oral exposure to low concentrations of bunker C fuel oil. Animals were fed three different concentrations of fuel oil (48, 520, and 908 ppm) or mineral oil (control) for 60-62 days. At the end of the exposure, blood and fecal samples were collected and organs were weighed and examined microscopically. In all fuel oil groups, exposure resulted in adrenal hypertrophy, an adaptation suggestive of adrenal activation. However, concentrations of serum and fecal glucocorticoids and serum progesterone were not elevated over control values. Hematologic parameters and serum chemistries showed no changes consistent with increased adrenal activity. In addition, adrenal glands from animals fed the higher concentrations of fuel oil contained large numbers of heavily vacuolated cells. We conclude that petroleum hydrocarbons are inducing an adrenal insufficiency that leads to the adaptive enlargement of the gland. This would increase the susceptibility of fuel oil-exposed animals to the deleterious effects of other environmental stressors.
EFFICIENT HIGHER-ORDER NEURAL NETWORKS FOR CLASSIFICATION AND FUNCTION APPROXIMATION

This paper introduces a class of higher-order networks called pi-sigma networks (PSNs). PSNs are feedforward networks with a single “hidden” layer of linear summing units and with product units in the output layer. A PSN uses these product units to indirectly incorporate the capabilities of higher-order networks while greatly reducing network complexity. PSNs have only one layer of adjustable weights and exhibit fast learning. A PSN with K summing units provides a constrained Kth order approximation of a continuous function. A generalization of the PSN is presented that can uniformly approximate any continuous function defined on a compact set. The use of linear hidden units makes it possible to mathematically study the convergence properties of various LMS type learning algorithms for PSNs. We show that it is desirable to update only a partial set of weights at a time rather than synchronously updating all the weights. Bounds for learning rates which guarantee convergence are derived. Several simulation results on pattern classification and function approximation problems highlight the capabilities of the PSN. Extensive comparisons are made with other higher order networks and with multilayered perceptrons. The neurobiological plausibility of PSN type networks is also discussed.
Radon-222 daughter concentrations in uranium mine atmospheres.

THE principal radiation exposure of a uranium miner is to the lungs and results from inhaling short-lived 222Rn daughter products (Fig. 1) in the atmosphere1. The short-lived daughters (RaA, RaB, RaC and RaC′) decay in the lung to 22-year 210Pb, of which a fraction is absorbed into the blood stream and stored in the skeleton. Correlation coefficients of 0.84 and 0.77 between exposure to the short-lived daughter products and the 210Pb skeletal burden have been reported2,3, but these studies indicate that the concentration of 210Pb in bone may be as much as four times that expected from the inhalation of the short-lived radon daughter atoms alone3. Less than 10 per cent of additional skeletal 210Pb can be expected from inhaled 222Rn stored in body fat. In order that the concentration of 210Pb in bone should be a valid index of exposure to the 222Rn daughter products, it must be shown that 210Pb atoms supplied by other sources are proportional to the 222Rn daughter concentration.
Effects of Adult Contingent Imitation on Development of Young Children's Vocal Imitation:

The effects of adult contingent vocal imitation on the development of vocal imitation skills by three young children with mental retardation were investigated. A multiple baseline across three young children with mental retardation were investigated. A multiple baseline across subjects design was implemented. Generalization sessions were conducted separately with both the children's teacher and teaching assistant. Child vocal imitation to adult contingent imitation, elicited imitation, and spontaneous imitation were measured in generalization sessions throughout the study. All children vocally imitated in response to adult contingent imitation during training. Minimal generalization to adult contingent imitation and elicited imitation prompts were shown by the children. Moderate to strong generalized increases in spontaneous imitation occurred for all children concurrent with training.
Chilling stress effects on corpus allatum proliferation in the Hawaiian cockroach, Diploptera punctata: a role for ecdysteroids

Abstract Endocrine regulation of corpus allatum (CA) cell proliferation in response to chilling was studied in mated females of the Hawaiian cockroach, Diploptera punctata. Chilling alone, when applied 24 h post-mating, suppressed CA cell division, and elevated ecdysteroid levels in Diploptera’s haemolymph. Application of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) at 24 h post-mating similarly suppressed CA cell division, but had no effects at 48 h or 72 h post-mating. Severance of the ventral nerve cord prior to chilling or to the application of 20E prevented suppression of CA cell division, indicating that the effects of either chilling or 20E application are mediated by the ventral nerve cord.
Higgs boson couplings to quarks with supersymmetric CP and flavor violations

Abstract In minimal supersymmetric model (SUSY) with a light Higgs sector, explicit CP violation and most general flavor mixings in the sfermion sector, integration of the superpartners out of the spectrum induces potentially large contributions to the Yukawa couplings of light quarks via those of the heavier ones. These corrections can be sizeable even for moderate values of tanβ, and remain nonvanishing even if all superpartners decouple. When the SUSY breaking scale is close to the electroweak scale, the Higgs exchange effects can compete with the gauge boson and box diagram contributions to rare processes, and their partial cancellations can lead to relaxation of the existing bounds on flavor violation sources. In this case there exist sizeable enhancements in flavor-changing Higgs decays. When the superpartners completely decouple, however, the Higgs mediation becomes the dominant SUSY contribution to rare processes the saturation of which, without a strong suppression of the flavor mixings, prefers large tanβ and certain ranges for the CP-odd phases. The decay rate of the lightest Higgs into light down quarks becomes comparable with that into the bottom quark. Moreover, the Higgs decay into the up quark is significantly enhanced. There are observable implications for rare processes, atomic electric dipole moments, and collider searches for Higgs bosons.
A method for determining the optimal back-washing frequency and duration for dead-end microfiltration

Abstract Microfiltration is used in a variety of industrial and municipal water purification settings where one of the main concerns is fouling from the particulate matter that is removed from the water. Our focus has been on developing a unified model that captures fouling behavior in a consolidated manner rather than describing individual blocking regimes using power law models. The unified model provides greater insights into fouling mechanisms so that a deeper understanding of flux decline can be obtained. Moreover, by characterizing both forwards and backwashing behavior together, mathematical theory is available to develop strategies that increase the effectiveness of microfiltration in conjunction with backwashing used to regenerate the filter. We present a very simplified model that was developed to provide details regarding the mathematical analysis and how optimal control theory can be used to predict the timing and duration of backwashing that will optimize the overall water flow through the membrane. We use optimal control theory to derive an analytic solution to the optimal problem and develop a strategy to implement the solution. The model estimates of forward operation are compared with experimental data for constant pressure filtration and indicate that the model is able to capture the basic processes. More interestingly, the optimal control solution and proposed implementation strategy are consistent with empirical demonstrations but provide mathematical evidence that the flux may be increased dramatically by precise timing of the forward and backwashing cycles. Model predictions can be evaluated during pilot-testing that often precedes microfilter regulatory approval and plant design.
Growth cones and structural variation of synaptic end-bulbs in the cochlear nucleus of the adult cat brain.

To explore the potential for structural variation and new growth at the synapse, we studied the morphological patterns of the end-bulbs of cochlear nerve axons in adult cats by using rapid Golgi, reduced silver, and electron microscopic methods. Horseradish peroxidase labeling of these endings in the anterior division of the antroventral cochlear nucleus was produced by anterograde transport following injection into the cochlea. Three types of end-bulbs were distinguished, regardless of method: reticular, coalescent, and ringed forms, all synapsing on spherical bushy cells. The reticular variety corresponds to the classically described end-bulb and constitutes the majority in all regions of the tonotopic map. The ringed end-bulb, described here for the first time, forms an excitatory synaptic cuff around the base of a bushy cell's main dendrite; these endings were localized to the region receiving cochlear input in the 1–6 kHz range, which is used in vocalization. The coalescent ending forms a small fraction of the end-bulb population throughout the region studied. The findings raise the possibility of functional differences between these snyaptic types. Growth cones and retraction clubs were present on most, if not all, of the end-bulbs in every adult cat studied. A systematic survey of the end-bulb patterns revealed a continuous gradient of variation, in which each synaptic type forms a distinct mode. These findings lead us to hypothesize that the end-bulbs are in a continual state of structural and functional flux. These endings should prove useful for studies on the modifiable properties of central synapses.
New methods for an old debate: Utilizing reader response to investigate the relationship between collaboration and quality in academic journal articles

Abstract There has been a longstanding debate about the merits of collaborative research, with most studies focusing on the citation advantage of such research. However, citation studies provide only one lens on the issues. New methods of inquiry are necessary to incorporate other audiences of scholarly literature. Reader response surveys were used to evaluate the quality of collaborative versus single-authored research. Graduate students in three sections of the same library and information science course during the 2010 academic year used surveys to rate each week's assigned readings according to overall quality, usefulness for class discussion, and enjoyability. Students voted whether to keep each article in the reading list for the following semester. Data were analyzed to compare results for single-author versus multi-author works. Multi-author works were favored over single-author. These findings provide another layer of empirical support for the benefits of collaborative research and inform both scientometricians and educators.
Convergent Synthesis of Nonsymmetric π-Stacked Protophanes Assembled with Urea Linkers

A convergent approach has been developed for the preparation of nonsymmetric tertiary arylureas possessing two or three urea linkages. This approach has been used for the preparation of ureas possessing 1-naphthylenyl and 4-nitrophenyl end groups separated by either one or two phenylene diamine bridging units. These ureas were constructed as prototypes for donor−bridge−acceptor systems based on tertiary arylurea architecture. AM1 calculations indicate a preference of these arylureas for folded, protophane structures in which the aryl groups are loosely π-stacked. Analysis of the 1H NMR chemical shifts supports the assignment of folded structures in solution. The absorption and luminescence spectra of tertiary ureas possessing 1-naphthylenyl and/or 4-nitrophenyl are reported. The absence of fluorescence and appearance of structured phosphorescence at 77 K are attributed to nitrophenyl-localized lowest energy singlet and triplet states. Localization of excitation on the acceptor chromophore precludes invest...
Acute Hemorrhagic Myositis in Inflammatory Myopathy and Review of the Literature

We describe two patients with dermatomyositis that presented with interstitial lung disease, positive V and Shawl sign who developed acute spontaneous abdominal/retroperitoneal bleed. Both patients expired despite aggressive treatment and resuscitation. Hemorrhagic myositis in these two patients with inflammatory myopathy is a very rare complication. The association of anti-Ro52 with this potentially very serious complication remains unclear. This potential relationship should be further evaluated in future studies.
Secondary cleft lip repair.

Secondary repair treats length and volume discrepancies as well as misalignments of skin, vermillion, and mucosa.
An Item-Response Theory Analysis of DSM-IV Alcohol-Use Disorder Criteria and “Binge” Drinking in Undergraduates*

Objective:This is the first study to examine the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), criteria for alcohol-use disorders and heavy episodic (or “binge”) drinking in a college sample using item-response theory (IRT) analysis. IRT facilitates assessment of the severity of the criteria, their ability to distinguish between those at greatest and lowest risk, and the value of adding a “binge” drinking criterion. Method:In a sample of undergraduate drinkers (n = 353), we conducted factor analyses to determine whether the criteria best fit a one- or two-factor structure. We then conducted IRT analyses to obtain item-characteristic curves indicating the probability of endorsing a criterion at increasing levels of alcohol-use-disorder risk. These analyses were first conducted including current (i.e., past-year) DSM-IV alcohol-use-disorder criteria only and then rerun adding weekly “binge” drinking. Results:A single-factor model of the DSM-IV criteria did not differ signif...
Cineradiographic study of football helmets and the cervical spine

A total of 16 men (4 professional football players, 5 high school athletes, and 7 hospital personnel) was studied by cineradiography to evaluate the possible roles of the posterior rim of the football helmet in causing neck injuries. The men ranged from tall elongated neck individuals to short chunky neck individuals. Moving picture (16-mm) films were produced from a series of lateral view cineradiograms that were taken to document the path and position of the posterior rim of the helmet relative to the spinal column as the subject moved his head from the fully flexed to the fully extended positions under several loading conditions. Five different helmets, all from different companies, were used in the studies. No contact existed at any time between the posterior rim of any of the five helmets worn and the fourth cervical vertebral spinous process; in fact, it did not come close to the spinous process of vertebrae C1 through C6. The notion of the posterior rim of the helmet being capable of striking the cervical spine about the C4 to C5 level is without foundation.
Disclosure of Cognitive Style Information: Effects on Achievement of Adult Learners.

This research investigated the effectiveness of disclosure of cognitive style map information on academic achievement in adult learners. Subjects were community college students (N = 61) enrolled in Human Anatomy. Experimental group subjects were administered the Albany Instrument and the cognitive style maps which resulted were disclosed to them. This entailed revealing and explaining the results with concomitant information about strategies that might be employed in subsequent learning. Control group subjects received a placebo disclosure treatment. Although the experimental group had a higher mean difference in academic achievement as measured by semester percentage grades, the difference was not statistically significant. Implications for adult education are discussed.
Low-frequency noise measurements of generation-recombination effect and field-assisted emission in AlGaN/GaN MOSHFETs and HFETs

Generation-recombination processes in AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistors (MOSHFETs) with HfAlO gate dielectric have been investigated through low-frequency phase-noise. Some devices tested exhibited noise spectra deviating from the well-known 1/ γ spectrum. These devices showed broad peaks attributed to generation-recombination (GR) effect in the noise-spectral-density (NSD) vs. frequency plots, which shifted toward higher frequencies at elevated temperatures. The unannealed and annealed MOSHFETs exhibited trap energy values as 0.22 eV and 0.11 eV at drain bias values of 6.3 V and 10 V, respectively. Then, we monitored the effect of source-drain bias on the excess GR noise. The time constant of the traps decreased from 16.7 ms to 2.1 ms as we increased the drain bias,V DS , from 10 V to 18 V for the annealed devices. We also measured the evolution of the GR-like spectrum as a function of V DS in HFETs to investigate the field-assisted emission. The zero-field trap energy is extracted as 0.71 eV from temperature dependence of emission using extrapolation technique to validate the potential barrier lowering (Frenkel-Poole effect) of the traps.
Foveal Ablation for Subfoveal Choroidal Neovasculariation

Untreated subfoveal choroidal neovascularization (SFCN) often progresses to destroy much central visual function. In this study, laser photocoagulation which included the entire foveal avascular zone was applied to SFCN in the second eye of 13 consecutive patients. Each patient had untreated SFCN in their first eye with visual acuity less than or equal to 20/400. Each second eye had SFCN of recent onset which was less than or equal to 1 disc diameter (DD) in size and visual acuity less than or equal to 20/200. In 10 of 13 (76.9%) treated eyes, SFCN was eliminated for 3 to 30 months. These eyes all retained strikingly better visual fields (Amsler or automated) than their fellow untreated eyes, markedly better subjective vision, and Snellen visual acuities of 20/70 to 20/400. Foveal photocoagulation may be useful in selected cases of SFCN with small neovascular nets and poor visual acuity.
A psychosocial perspective in the explanation of patients' drug-taking behavior

Abstract The goal of this study was to examine the applicability of the Health Belief (HBM) and Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) models in predicting drug-taking compliance behavior among female patients with uncomplicated urinary tract infections. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents were compliant, 25% finished all of their medication, but missed one or more doses during the course of therapy, and 37% did not finish all of their medication as directed. Two HBM and three TRA variables had a statistically significant relationship with compliance: barriers and benefits (HBM) and belief strength, outcome evaluation, and behavioral intention (TRA). HBM variables explained 10% of the variance in the compliance variable. Adding the TRA variables to the model explained an additional 19% of the variance. Social influence variables (normative expectations, motivation to comply, and subjective norms) had a significant influence in the prediction of behavioral intention, but not in the prediction of compliance behavior. Suggestions for improving compliance based on these findings include: simplification of drug therapy by customizing and simplifying the regimen, continued patient reminders of the therapy's value, and benchmarks for patients to evaluate the success or failure of therapy. A frank and open discussion from the start of therapy about its complexity, the medication's side effects, time and fiscal constraints, and other factors which may modify patients' perception of the likelihood of compliance is an important key to improving patients' compliance behavior.
Price vs. quantity competition in oligopoly supergames

Abstract In a repeated oligopoly with differentiated products and firms following trigger strategies, quantity competition leads to a less efficient outcome than price competition. This result contrasts with the repeated duopoly result, where price competition is less efficient under certain conditions.
A method for fractionation of cloned protein in recombinantSaccharomyces cerevisiae

In a spheroplasting method which allows the fractionation and quantification of cloned invertase activity in recombinantSaccharomyces cerevisiae cells, the yeast cell is selectively degraded with the enzyme Zymolyase for 60 minutes at 45°C to separate periplasmic proteins from cytoplasmic proteins. Most of the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (a cytoplasmic marker protein) was found in the cytoplasmic fraction.
Induction of Apoptosis in Sonoporation and Ultrasonic Gene Transfer

The role of apoptosis in sonoporation and ultrasound-enhanced gene transfection of cell suspensions was examined in vitro. Suspensions of HL-60 and of CHO-K1 cells were exposed to 2.25-MHz continuous ultrasound for 1 min in a 60-rpm rotating-tube exposure system, with ultrasound contrast media added to ensure nucleation of cavitation. Cell necrosis was measured by trypan blue dye exclusion (using a hemacytometer) and by propidium iodide nuclear staining (using flow cytometry). Apoptosis was detected by the annexin V method with Alexa Fluor 350 as the fluorescent label, and confirmed by Hoechst 33342 nuclear staining. Sonoporation cell loading was assessed by uptake of large fluorescent-dextran molecules from the medium. Transfection was demonstrated by expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) from plasmids transferred into the cells by the treatment. Cell scoring was performed by flow cytometry, with necrotic cell events excluded. For HL-60 cells at 0.4 MPa, cell loading and transfection was significantly increased relative to shams at 2, 6 and 24 h post exposure, peaking at 19.0 +/- 5.5% and 9.6 +/- 4.2% of non-necrotic cells, respectively, at 6 h. However, about one third of the treatment-positive cells were identified as apoptotic. The cell loading and gene transfer effects increased for increasing peak rarefactional pressure amplitude, reaching 24.4 +/- 7.7% and 12.7 +/- 5.1% of non-necrotic cells, respectively, for 0.6-MPa exposure. However, the lethal cellular injury caused by cavitation in the rotating tube system reduced the overall apparent efficacy of cell loading and gene transfer to 5.1 +/- 2.1% and 2.1 +/- 0.9%, respectively, after accounting for necrosis and apoptosis. Similar tests with CHO cells showed increased sonoporation but mostly cell death by necrosis, rather than apoptosis. The induction of apoptosis by cavitation treatments should be considered as a possible confounding factor, in addition to necrosis, in sonoporation and ultrasonic gene transfer research.
Selective trapping of circular double-stranded DNA molecules in solidifying agarose.

Abstract When a solution containing agarose and DNA at 65 °C is allowed to solidify in the well of a preformed gel, it is found that circular DNAs become “trapped” in the newly formed matrix and resist electrophoretic migration. This finding provides an independent method for the characterization of circular DNA. The trapping phenomenon is dependent on the size, conformation, and concentration of circular DNAs as well as on the concentration of agarose. It is demonstrated that this technique can be used as a sensitive assay for detecting circular DNA.
New Foundations in the History of Astronomy: Four Papers in Honor of Bernard R. Goldstein

Introduction In 1999 the History of Science Society held its annual meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., the home and academic base of Bernard R. Goldstein, who had recently retired from full-time teaching at the University of Pittsburgh and had been honored with a University Professorship. Several of his friends and collaborators used the opportunity to present a program of four papers in his honor, entitled ‘The New History of Astronomy’. The session was chaired by Professor Nancy Siraisi, Distinguished Professor of History at Hunter College in the City University of New York; and Professor Goldstein himself commented on the papers. Revised versions of the presentations at this session make up the current volume. Our title invites the question: What was the old history of astronomy? Here perhaps one should distinguish between the views of historians of science in general, and those of the small but very vigorous group of specialists who would count themselves as historians of astronomy. For the greater part of the twentieth century historians in general, and historians of science in particular, accorded a special place to astronomy during antiquity and in the events collectively labelled the Scientiac Revolution. Astronomy was made a paradigm of ancient science because of the visible continuity of its tradition and the prominent use of mathematics by its practitioners. In fact, astronomy overshadowed other mathematical sciences like optics that were developed by the Greeks and Romans, perhaps because of the later importance of astronomy in the European university curriculum. Accounts of the Scientiac Revolution typically began with Copernicus, who was depicted as overturning ancient astronomy. The standard narrative then proceeded by way of Kepler, who discovered the
Dolphin hearing during echolocation: evoked potential responses in an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

Auditory evoked potential (AEP) responses were recorded during echolocation in an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) trained to accept suction-cup EEG electrodes and detect targets by echolocation. AEP recording was triggered by the echolocation clicks of the animal. Three targets with target strengths of -34, -28 and -22 dB were used at a target distance of 2 to 6.5 m for each target. The results demonstrated that the AEP appeared to both outgoing echolocation clicks and echoes during echolocation, with AEP complexes consisting of alternative positive and negative waves. The echo-related AEP amplitudes were obviously lower than the outgoing click-related AEP amplitudes for all the targets at the investigated target distances. However, for targets with target strengths of -22 and -28 dB, the peak-to-peak amplitudes of the echo-related AEPs were dependent on the target distances. The echo-related AEP response amplitudes increased at further target distances, demonstrating an overcompensation of echo attenuation with target distance in the echo-perception system of the dolphin biosonar. Measurement and analysis of outgoing click intensities showed that the click levels increased with target distance (R) by a factor of approximately 10 to 17.5 logR depending on target strength. The results demonstrated that a dual-component biosonar control system formed by intensity compensation behavior in both the transmission and receiving phases of a biosonar cycle exists synchronously in the dolphin biosonar system.
Visualizing ion channel dynamics at the plasma membrane

Cardiac ion channels are surprisingly dynamic in nature, and are continuously formed, trafficked to specific subregions of plasma membrane, inserted in the plasma membrane, and removed to be degraded or recycled. Because of these movements, which affect channel availability, ion channel function is dependent on not just channel biophysical properties but channel trafficking as well. The development of molecular techniques to tag proteins of interest with fluorescent and other genetically encoded proteins, and of advanced imaging modalities such as total internal reflection microscopy (TIRF), have created new opportunities to understand the intracellular movement of proteins near the plasma membrane and their dynamics therein. In this article we present approaches for ion channel biologists to the use of fluorescent and nonfluorescent fusion proteins, techniques for cloning and expression of fusion proteins in mammalian cells, and imaging techniques for live-cell high-resolution microscopy. For illustration, original data are presented on creation of a stable cell line capable of inducible expression of connexin 43 tagged to green fluorescent protein and its distribution viewed with both wide-field epifluorescence and TIRF microscopy. With revolutionary advances in fluorescence microscopy, ion channel biologists are now entering a new realm of studying channel function, which is to understand the mechanisms of channel trafficking.
The Transmembrane Domains of Sindbis Virus Envelope Glycoproteins Induce Cell Death

Sindbis virus, the prototype alphavirus, kills cells by inducing apoptosis. To investigate potential mechanisms by which Sindbis virus induces apoptosis, we examined whether specific viral gene products were able to induce cell death. Genes encoding the three structural proteins—capsid, the precursor E1 (6K plus E1), and the precursor E2 (P62 or E3 plus E2)—were cotransfected with a β-galactosidase reporter plasmid in transient-transfection assays in rat prostate adenocarcinoma AT3 cells. Cell death, as determined by measuring the loss of blue cells, was observed in AT3 cells transfected with 6K plus E1 and with P62 but not in cells transfected with capsid. Deletion mutagenesis of P62 indicated that large regions of the cytoplasmic domain and extracellular domain were not essential for the induction of cell death. However, constructs containing the minimal E3 signal sequence fused to the E2 transmembrane domain and the minimal E3 signal sequence fused to the E1 transmembrane domain induced death as efficiently as full-length P62 and 6K plus E1, whereas no cell death was observed after transfection with a control construct containing the E3 signal sequence linked to the transmembrane domain of murine CD4. These data demonstrate that intracellular expression of the transmembrane domains of the Sindbis virus envelope glycoproteins can kill AT3 cells.
Role of Buoyancy on Instabilities and Structure of Transitional Gas Jet Diffusion Flames

Transitional jet diffusion flames provide the link between dynamics of laminar and turbulent flames. In this study, instabilities and their interaction with the flow structure are explored in a transitional jet diffusion flame, with focus on isolating buoyancy effects. Experiments are conducted in hydrogen flames with fuel jet Reynolds number of up to 2,200 and average jet velocity of up to 54 m/s. Since the fuel jet is laminar at the injector exit, the transition from laminar to turbulent flame occurs by the hydrodynamic instabilities in the shear layer of fuel jet. The instabilities and the flow structures are visualized and quantified by the rainbow schlieren deflectometry technique coupled with a high-speed imaging system. The schlieren images acquired at 2,000 frames per second allowed exposure time of 23 μs with spatial resolution of 0.4 mm. Results identify a hitherto unknown secondary instability in the flame surface, provide explanation for the observed intermittency in the breakpoint length, show coherent vortical structures downstream of the flame breakpoint, and illustrate gradual breakdown of coherent structures into small-scale random structures in the far field turbulent region.
Refractory Hypoglycemia from Ciprofloxacin and Glyburide Interaction

Patients taking multiple medications may suffer from unpredictable and complex drug-drug interactions resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. There are few reports in the literature of hypoglycemia with concurrent administration of an oral hyperglycemic agent and a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. We present a case of a diabetic patient taking glyburide who was prescribed ciprofloxacin and developed prolonged hypoglycemia, which persisted for over 24 hours. The mechanisms by which these agents interact to produce prolonged hypoglycemia are complex and probably multifactorial. Patients stabilized on glyburide who are started on a fluoroquinolone should have their glucose levels monitored closely.
Us and Them: Intergroup Failures of Empathy

People are often motivated to increase others' positive experiences and to alleviate others' suffering. These tendencies to care about and help one another form the foundation of human society. When the target is an outgroup member, however, people may have powerful motivations not to care about or help that “other.” In such cases, empathic responses are rare and fragile; it is easy to disrupt the chain from perception of suffering to motivation to alleviate the suffering to actual helping. We highlight recent interdisciplinary research demonstrating that outgroup members' suffering elicits dampened empathic responses as compared to ingroup members' suffering. We consider an alternative to empathy in the context of intergroup competition: schadenfreude—pleasure at others' pain. Finally, we review recent investigations of intergroup-conflict interventions that attempt to increase empathy for outgroups. We propose that researchers across the range of psychological sciences stand to gain a better understandi...
Carbapenem Therapy Is Associated With Improved Survival Compared With Piperacillin-Tazobactam for Patients With Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase Bacteremia

(See the Editorial Commentary by Perez and Bonomo on pages 1326–9.) The prevalence of gram-negative bacteria resistant to broad-spectrum β-lactams has increased at a rapid pace over the past decade [1]. Such is the case with extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria. ESBL-producing organisms have been associated with poorer clinical outcomes compared with more susceptible organisms [2–6], partially attributable to a delay in initiating appropriate antimicrobial therapy [7–9]. The existing literature indicates that carbapenems have a relatively high rate of clinical success among patients infected with ESBL-producing organisms [10–13]. However, indiscriminant carbapenem use is not without consequence. Increased carbapenem use has contributed to the emergence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae [14, 15]. The role of piperacillin-tazobactam (PTZ) for patients infected with ESBL-producing pathogens remains unclear. Although ESBLs are generally inhibited by tazobactam, many organisms produce multiple EBSLs simultaneously, which may reduce the effectiveness of PTZ [16]. The presence of additional mechanisms of resistance (eg, AmpC β-lactamases) may further limit the activity of PTZ against ESBL-producing organisms [16]. Several studies suggest moderate to high in vitro activity of PTZ against ESBLs [17–19], but this does not necessarily translate to clinical efficacy. An inoculum effect, in which the PTZ minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) increases when inocula reach 10 colony-forming units per milliliter [7], has been proposed as a possible explanation for reduced efficacy observed in the setting of apparent in vitro susceptibility [1–3]. Existing observational data have demonstrated equivalence between PTZ and carbapenems for the treatment of ESBL infections [4]. However, heterogeneity related to the criteria used to define ESBLs, imbalances between sources of infection, variability in dosing, interval, and duration of therapy, use of additional active antibiotics, differences in end-points evaluated, and residual confounding limit the applicability of these findings [10, 13]. A complicating factor in published studies is the discrepancy between empiric and definitive antimicrobial regimens when comparing outcomes due to ESBL-producing bacteria [13]. Very often, patients are prescribed cephalosporins or PTZ empirically, and only after it is known that an organism is an ESBL producer, generally 72–96 hours after blood cultures are obtained, are patients transitioned to carbapenem therapy, making it challenging to conduct fair comparisons of patients receiving carbapenem therapy and alternate agents. To overcome these limitations, we sought to determine the impact of empiric PTZ therapy compared with empiric carbapenem therapy on 14-day mortality in a stabilized inverse probability–weighted (IPW) cohort of patients with ESBL bacteremia who all received culture-directed “definitive” therapy with a carbapenem.
Inference in time series of graphs using locality statistics

The ability to detect change-points in a dynamic network or a time series of graphs is an increasingly important task in many applications of the emerging discipline of graph signal processing. This paper formulates change-point detection as a hypothesis testing problem in terms of Stochastic Block Model time series. We analyze two classes of scan statistics, based on distinct underlying locality statistics presented in the literature. Our main contribution is the derivation of the limiting distributions and power characteristics of the competing scan statistics. Performance is compared theoretically, on synthetic data, and on the Enron email corpus. We demonstrate that both statistics are admissible in one simple setting, while one of the statistics is inadmissible in a second setting.
Mobile components associated with rapidly developing mitral annulus calcification in patients with chronic renal failure: review of mobile elements associated with mitral annulus calcification.

Mitral annulus calcification may directly cause cerebrovascular accidents by serving as a source of calcific or thrombotic emboli. This hypothesis has been supported by recent reports of mobile components associated with mitral annulus calcification detected by echocardiography. Cardiovascular calcifications, including mitral annulus calcification, are common in end-stage renal disease and may develop and progress over a short period of time. We report two patients with mobile components associated with mitral annulus calcification and end-stage renal disease. Serial echocardiography documented that the mitral annulus calcification in these two patients had developed rapidly. Follow-up echocardiography in one patient demonstrated resolution of the mobile elements. (ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Volume 20, May 2003)
Low-pressure rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition of oxynitride gate dielectrics for n-channel and p-channel MOSFETs

The properties of oxynitride gate dielectrics formed using a low-pressure, rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) process with SiH/sub 4/, NH/sub 3/, and N/sub 2/O as the reactive gases are presented. Material analyses show an increase of uniform nitrogen and interfacial hydrogen content with increasing NH/sub 3//N/sub 2/O flow rate ratio. MOS capacitors with both n-type and p-type substrates and both n-channel and p-channel MOSFETs were analyzed electrically. The results show increasing fixed oxide charge and interface state density with increasing nitrogen and hydrogen content in the film. A decrease in peak transconductance and improved high-field transconductance was observed for n-channel MOSFETs. Improved resistance to hot-carrier interface state generation was also observed with increasing nitrogen concentration in the films. The results suggest that an optimal nitrogen concentration of approximately 3 at.% can be considered for further development of this technology.
Receptor-mediated adherence of Campylobacter pylori to mouse Y-1 adrenal cell monolayers.

Abstract An in vitro adherence assay was developed to study the adherence of Campylobacter pylori to mammalian cells. Strains of C. pylori were isolated from individuals with gastritis. These strains possessed the fibrillar N-acetylneuraminyllactose(neuraminlactose)-binding hemagglutinin (NLBH) and were found to adhere to monolayers of mouse Y-1 adrenal cells. Adherence was rapid, prevented by pretreatment of the Y-1 cells with Clostridium perfringens neuraminidase, and blocked by the neuraminlactose-containing protein fetuin. Electron microscopy by the immunogold technique and with anti-NLBH antibody showed that NLBH was present at the sites of interaction between C. pylori and the Y-1 cells. These results indicate that the Y-1 monolayer is a valid model for receptor-specific adherence of C. pylori.
The maturity of computational electromagnetics: Are we there yet?

The so called “traditional” computational electromagnetic (CEM) techniques, such as vector finite elements methods, finite difference (volume) time domain methods, integral equation methods, and various hybridizations of such techniques, have become the major building blocks for many successful commercial software. In the last few decades, we have witnessed the ballooning success stories of these CEM techniques/software to design and to solve challenging real-life engineering applications: ranging from large and small, military and civilian communication/radar antennas; signal/power integrity in ICs and packages; stealth technologies in military applications; electromagnetic compatibility/interference in electronics; and bio-medical applications; to name just a few. However, as many of us are aware of, as the CEM techniques/software improved significantly over the years, new and even more complex engineering problems, which were considered un-solvable before, were surfaced as a natural consequence. Among these new problems, quite a few of them whose scales and/or complexities are still way beyond the capabilities of commercial software or even the existing CEM techniques. It is therefore, my personal conviction, that the research in CEM must continue and remains or even more exciting than ever before. However, the emphasis and focus need to be firmly placed on solving real and practical problems.
Vertical Mergers and Market Foreclosure

yThe model in this paper illustrates three effects of vertical mergers when both stages are oligopolistic and vertically integrated and unintegrated producers coexist. First, the merging firm increases its final good output. Second, the resulting backward shift in the residual demand curve facing unintegrated final good producers ylowers their demand for the intermediate good. Third, the merged firm withdraws from the intermediate good market. The increased concentration pushes the intermediate good price upward. Which effect dominates depends on market structure. Under some conditions, a vertical merger causes the price of the final good to increase.
Timing isn't everything: an analysis of when to start salvage chemotherapy in ovarian cancer.

Abstract Objective Results from GOG 178 showed a prolongation of progression-free survival (PFS) with the immediate use of chemotherapy (CT) following a complete clinical response (CR) in patients with stage III–IV ovarian cancer. We wanted to evaluate our strategy of reserving second line (2nd line) chemotherapy to the time of clinical recurrence by determining PFS intervals following first, second, and third line agents and to compare these finding to results of GOG 178. Methods We conducted a retrospective parallel study to GOG 178 using identical criteria for PFS definitions. Patients (pts) with stage III–IV cancer achieving a CR following surgery and five to eight cycles of platinum-based CT were identified. Patients not obtaining a CR and those with a CR who underwent second look surgery were excluded. Rather than immediately beginning consolidation CT after CR, second line agents were started at recurrence and were followed by a third line when pts progressed. Clinical-pathologic characteristics were abstracted, and time intervals including time to recurrence, time to use of second line CT, time to use of third line (3rd line) CT, and survival were recorded. Time intervals were studied by Kaplan-Meier method. Results Of 217 reviewed pts (1991–2001), 59 eligible pts were identified. Forty-nine patients had stage III disease and ten had stage IV. At completion of surgery, 44 were optimally debulked. With a median follow-up of 51 months, the median PFS (from CR) of all patients was 20 months. At 5 years, 36% of pts remain disease-free, and 66% of pts are alive. Twenty-three pts have not received second line agents, and thirty-six have received them. For all pts, the median time from CR to start of second line chemotherapy was 21 months, and the median time to start of third line agents was 43 months. Recurrences occurred after 6 months from completion of first line (1st line) therapy in 87% of cases and after 12 months in 50%. Conclusions Nearly 70% of pts achieving a CR after primary therapy eventually recurred. Most recurrences occurred greater than 6 months from completion of primary chemotherapy, and the use of second line agents at the time of recurrence was effective. In this study, the median time from CR to start of third line agent at 43 months compares favorably with the median PFS of 28 months following 12 months of Taxol reported in GOG 178 and challenges the concept of consolidation chemotherapy in ovarian cancer. A randomized trial to evaluate when to institute second line agents should be performed.
Sensitivities of water supply planning decisions to streamflow and climate scenario uncertainties

Abstract A case study of the Sacramento Basin is undertaken to examine problems of planning for the impacts of climate change on water resources utilizing output from general circulation climate models. This work provides a sensitivity analysis linking climate, streamflow, and planning decisions. Water resource planners want reliable time series of streamflow in the basin. Sacramento basin hydrological models do well at simulating monthly streamflow time series from the observed station precipitation and temperature data. However, climate models poorly simulate the large scale processes and features that are ultimately important in determining precipitation and streamflow in the Sacramento Basin region. Observational data for the Sacramento Basin indicates that basin streamflow is sensitive to precipitation changes of the size indicated by GCM 2×CO2/1×CO2 studies. We devised a broad range of plausible scenarios for basin streamflow changes and carried out a qualitative examination of the consequences of planning on any one of the scenarios should any of the different scenarios actually come to pass. For the problem of maintaining basin water deliveries, some of the possible long range planning decisions in the Sacramento Basin depend on choice of climate scenario. This dependance will be influenced by demand changes and normative decision criteria. Thus, basin streamflow is sensitive to uncertainty in the range of GCM simulated basin precipitation, and long range supply planning decisions for the basin are potentially sensitive to the choice of streamflow scenario; contingent upon the range of scenarios assessed and on normative decisions related to risk aversion and the evaluation of impacts. This contingent result runs counter to recent quantitative climate impact studies that have adopted the convenient fiction that current GCM regional climate scenarios provide comprehensive estimates of potential regional changes. The challenge is to find robust planning options that smooth out the sensitivity to a wide variety of different climate realizations.