cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
“WE LOST THE PLADO”: Tracing privileged school literacies in one kindergarten classroom

Drawing from a network case study, this article traces enactments of a letter writing enquiry in one Kindergarten public school classroom in New York City, and in doing so, explores both the afford...
Case 22: Traumatic Hemothorax and Same Side Central Venous Access

A 29-year-old woman is admitted to a midsize hospital, in Somalia, after falling off of a moving train. She is in severe pain but is oriented for time and place. Her heart rate is 120 bpm and her BP 85/40. She is breathing 100% oxygen through a non-rebreathing mask with a safety vent (Hudson RCI, Temecula, CA, USA). Her oxygen saturation is 96%. She has multiple fractures, including the pelvis, right humerus, 10th thoracic vertebra, and ribs 6 through 10 on the right side. She has a right-sided hemothorax. A Cordis catheter (PSI kit, Arrow International, Inc. Reading, PA 19605, USA) is inserted into the right subclavian vein, and blood is easily withdrawn for chemical analysis, including the international normalized ratio (INR) and crossmatching for 6 units of red blood cells. After inserting the right chest drain, 1500 ml of blood is, via gravity, drained rapidly without any ill effects. A new chest X-ray shows complete resolution of the hemothorax, and the subclavian catheter is seen in the correct position. The central venous pressure (CVP) is zero and fluctuates with respiration. Blood arrives and 4 units of packed red cells are given rapidly through the Cordis in the right subclavian vein. Despite continuous volume replacement with the packed cells above and 3 l of crystalloids and albumin 250 ml × 4 through a 16-gauge IV catheter in her right hand, her blood pressure deteriorates. An increased drainage of dark blood is seen from the chest drain. A diagnosis of a laceration of major vessels in the chest is made by the surgeon, and you are called to anesthetize this patient for a right thoracotomy.
Erythropoietic properties of human induced pluripotent stem cells-derived red blood cells in immunodeficient mice.

Transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) is a life-saving intervention for anemic patients. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) have the capability to expand and differentiate into RBCs (iPSC-RBCs). Here we developed a murine model to investigate the in vivo properties of human iPSC-RBCs. iPSC lines were produced from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells by transient expression of plasmids containing OCT4, SOX2, MYC, KLF4 and BCL-XL genes. Human iPSC-RBCs were generated in culture supplemented with human platelet lysate, and were CD34- CD235a+ CD233+ CD49dlow CD71low , in which about 13% iPSC-RBCs were enucleated before transfusion. Systemic administration of clodronate liposomes (CL) and cobra venom factor (CVF) to NOD scid gamma (NSG) mice markedly promoted the circulatory survival of human iPSC-RBCs following transfusion. While iPSC-RBCs progressively decreased with time, 90% of circulating iPSC-RBCs were enucleated one day after transfusion (CD235a+ CD233+ CD49d- CD71- ). Surprisingly, human iPSC-RBCs reappeared in the peripheral circulation at 3 weeks after transfusion at levels more than 8-fold higher than at 1 hour after transfusion. Moreover, a substantial portion of the transfused nucleated iPSC-RBCs preferentially homed to the bone marrow, and were detectable at 24 days after transfusion. These results suggest that nucleated human iPSC-derived cells that homed to the bone marrow of NSG mice retained the capability to complete differentiation into enucleated erythrocytes and egress the bone marrow into peripheral blood. The results offer a new model using human peripheral blood-derived iPSC and CL/CVF-treated NSG mice to investigate the development and circulation of human erythroid cells in vivo. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Partying during a pandemic: role of descriptive partying norms, residence, college alcohol beliefs, and political ideology in COVID-19 party behavior.

OBJECTIVE Non-adherence to COVID-19 guidelines is a major public health issue. This study explored factors that explain college student party behavior (PB; defined as attending a college party wherein COVID-19 guidelines, including masks and social distancing were ignored) during the pandemic. METHOD Freshmen students at a northeastern university (N = 207; 72% women) responded to an online Fall 2020 semester survey. RESULTS The percentage of students who participated in on-campus partying during past month was 11.6%, with 20.3% participating in off-campus partying. Living on campus and higher perceived norms for partying were associated with higher levels of on-campus PB, whereas higher perceived norms for partying, stronger college alcohol beliefs, and a more conservative political ideology accounted for significant variance in off-campus PB. CONCLUSIONS Efforts to reduce party behavior should target misperception of party behavior norms as well as college alcohol beliefs, and take into account students' residence and political ideology.
The binding of actinomycin D to crab poly d(A-T) · poly d(T-A): II. On the nature of the DNA binding site

Abstract An explanation is sought for the observation that only 60 % of the GC base pairs of crab poly d(A-T) · poly d(T-A) are strong binding sites for actinomycin D. The size distribution was measured for the oligonucleotides obtained by ribonuclease T1 digestion of the RNA transcription product from crab poly d(A-T) · poly d(T-A). This distribution shows that the G residues are randomly distributed along each strand. The association constant and the number of base pairs per binding site for the binding of AMD by poly d(T-G) · poly d(A-C) is measured as about the same as for a natural DNA. Therefore, G does not require a neighboring purine to be a binding site. Wells 22 and Wells and Larson 7 have recently shown that poly d(T-G-A) · poly d(A-C-T) does not bind actinomycin D. We conclude that a combination of steric interactions for randomly distributed GC base pairs and the nonbinding character of the TGA sequence is probably responsible for the binding data for crab poly d(A-T) · poly d(T-A).
Premerger Notification and the Incentive to Merge and Litigate

The original Clayton Act's (15 U.S.C. 18) prohibition of certain mergers was intended to be preventive in nature. Mergers having the potential to reduce competition were to be challenged prior to consummation. Historically, however, most of the complaints brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) were initiated after mergers had been consummated. Failure to challenge mergers prior to consummation was not, however, deliberate. Obstacles to obtaining preliminary injunctions were high. Moreover, once an illegal merger had taken place, it often took five to six years to resolve the case. The inability to secure what was considered adequate postacquisition relief led to the belief that the government had achieved only Pyrrhic victories.1 In response to these conditions, the Congress passed the HartScott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976 (HSR).2 A major objective of the Act was to provide antitrust authorities with the means to handle illegal mergers expeditiously by establishing premerger notification requirements. To that end, Title II of the Act facilitates premerger investigations and enhances
Novel techniques for performance enhancement of inkjet-printed graphene-based thin films for wireless sensing platforms

In this paper, we present various novel techniques for the performance enhancement of nanotechnology-enabled wireless platforms utilizing inkjet-printed carbon-based thin films, especially for gas sensing applications. The key advancements include surface modification techniques to drastically reduce film thickness (from micron to nm) and a unique in-house developed nano-patterning process to increase porosity of the thin film resulting in increased surface contact area with gas. We have improved the performance by nearly one order of magnitude (a factor of around 10), increasing the sensitivity to 4.8% at 60 ppm, compared to previously reported results (6% sensitivity after exposure to 500 ppm NH3). We also propose a novel technique for carbon-based material growth on top of pre-printed patterns. The proposed graphene-based thin film approach could set the foundation for a plethora of novel wireless sensing and gas-reconfigurable communication platforms.
Simultaneous downmodulation of mTORC1 and PD-1 in activated CD8 T-cells generates expanded population of exhaustion-resistant memory T-cells (IRM4P.495)

It is possible to redirect recently activated T-cells toward memory differentiation by altering intracellular signaling of the mTORC1 pathway. As previously reported, treatment with rapamycin increased formation of memory cells; however, animals treated with the drug exhibited signs of immune suppression and the rapamycin-generated memory T-cells failed to protect animals against a tumor challenge. We introduced highly efficient and specific method to downmodulate mTORC1 in CD8 T cells, whereby siRNA against raptor, was targeted in vivo to activated CD8 T-cells by conjugating to a 4-1BB-binding RNA aptamer, leading to the generation of an enhanced memory response and protective antitumor immunity. Memory T-cells are resistant to immune suppression; yet, in vivo the population is experiencing attrition mediated in part via PD-1 signalling. We developed the conjugate with two siRNAs against raptor and PD-1 linked to a 4-1BB aptamer. In vitro, both siRNAs efficiently dissociated from the conjugate inside target cells and downregulated their respective mRNAs. In vivo, we demonstrated that treatment with 4-1BB-raptor-PD1 conjugates increased formation of memory CD8+ T-cells in a rate similar to the 4-1BB-raptor conjugate. Notably, CD8+ memory T-cells expanded with 4-1BB-raptor-PD1 conjugates expressed significantly less PD-1 on cell surface. Thus, we introduced a new method of cell-targeted delivery of two siRNA to generate CD8 memory cells with enhanced functional potential.
Analysis of dead time influence on common mode volt-second and inductor saturation in three-phase dc-fed motor drive systems

This paper presents a systematical analysis to predict the volt-second on the inductors of EMI filters through analytical calculation and provides a detailed analysis about the impact of system dead time on inductor saturation for EMI filter design. The equivalent circuit for inductor volt-second prediction is presented. Based on the equivalent circuit, a prediction method is proposed to analytically calculate the voltsecond on the common mode (CM) inductors using double Fourier integral transformation (DFIT) method for noise source calculation. Moreover, the impact of dead time on the output voltage spectrum and inductor volt-second is discussed in detail. The results show that the volt-second on the inductors can be predicted through analytical calculation and the impact of dead time on inductor saturation is related with system modulation methods, dead time value and also the inductors' and capacitors' value selection of the EMI filters. The analysis is based on a dc-fed motor drive system with output EMI filter as an example and the verifications are carried out through both simulations and experiments on a 3 kW motor drive system.
Quantitative assay of paravaccinia virus based on enumeration of inclusion-containing cells.

Bovine paravaccinia virus produces cytoplasmic inclusion bodies on infection of bovine embryonic kidney cells; these were easily recognized when stained with acridine orange or May-Grunwald-Giemsa stain. The inclusions could be shown to contain newly synthesized deoxyribonucleic acid by autoradiography. Counts of inclusion-containing cells decreased when virus suspensions were treated with immune serum before being used to inoculate cell cultures. At 24 hr after infection, the number of cells containing inclusions was directly proportional to the concentration of infectious virus inoculated. These observations provide the basis for a virus assay which is simpler, faster, and more sensitive than the plaque assay.
Behavior and Design of Long-Span Metal Culverts

The interaction between flexible metal culverts and the surrounding backfill is examined by means of finite element analyses that simulate the placement of backfilling and subsequent application of live loads. Although metal culverts are flexible in bending, they are stiff in ring compression, and the ring compression forces are therefore greater than those corresponding to the weight of backfill above the structure. The bending moments in metal culverts are dependent on the relative flexibility of the culvert and the backfill, which can be expressed in terms of a dimensionless flexibility number. Comparisons between finite element results and field measurements show the suitability of the method as a basis for design. A simplified rational design procedure is described that considers both bending and ring compression. /Author/
System MgO–Al2O3–SiO2

The three-component chemical system MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 (MAS) accounts for 89 % of the Earth’s mantle. Phase relations in the MAS system are fundamental for understanding the mineral composition of the mantle; other components only modify but do not qualitatively alter these phase relations. The importance of the MAS system has been recognized early, as is evident from the large number of experimental studies carried out in this system over a time period of several decades. However, the quality of these studies varies substantially. While the phase relations for spinel and garnet peridotites have been studied repeatedly and are known in detail, the equilibrium relations for other MAS compositions are known only partially and often from older studies which have not been re-investigated by more modern experimental and analytical techniques. The approach used here builds on the detailed experimental work carried out for the spinel and garnet peridotites, and extends this information to the whole MAS system by maintaining internal consistency. Earlier experimental studies were reviewed to obtain the full understanding of the complex phase relations at low pressures, and to derive an internally consistent set of parameters. These parameters were then used to calculate phase relations for the whole MAS system in the T-P range corresponding to the crust and upper mantle.
BIT-based weighted mean filter

Linear-Nonlinear hybrid filters that have appeared in literature suffer from some severe disadvantages. They smear edges and are very hardware intensive. These shortcomings can be overcome by having a Bit-based Weighted Mean filtering scheme. This filter starts by calculating the median of a set of sample values. The sample values are then scaled. Those values which lie in the proximity of the median, are granted more weightage. The weighted sample values are then averaged to yield the filter output. Results show that these filters perform much better than their earlier counterparts with respect to edge preservation and minimizing the minimum absolute error criterion when applied to images corrupted by both impulsive and nonimpulsive noise. These filters are also much more hardware efficient than the L, ATM and M filters[5]-[6].
Aging America and Transportation: Personal Choices and Public Policy, edited by Joseph F. Coughlin and Lisa A. D'Ambrosio

Aging America and Transportation describes the soon-to-be-older adult population and how they differ from older generations in mentality and transportation needs. Specifically, the book looks into ...
GENETIC ANALYSIS OF CHROMOMERE 3D4 IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER : THE DUNCE AND SPERM-AMOTILE GENES

Both male and female Drosophila that are homozygous deficient for chromomere 3D4 are viable but sterile and lack detectable cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase activity. Two genes have been localized to this region: spermamotile (sam) and dunce (dnc). The sperm-amotile gene is required for male fertility, and the dunce gene is required for normal learning, female fertility, and cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase activity. The sperm-amotile gene maps 0.24 map units to the left of dunce. The expression of the dunce gene seems to be affected by a chromosomal break to the left of sperm-amotile. The fertility of dunce females varies according to changes in the genetic background and the presence or absence of an X-linked suppressor.
Phylogenetic revision of the Charis cleonus complex (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae)

Abstract. A revision of the Charis cleonus group of Neotropical riodinid butterflies is presented, including discussions on the taxonomy, biogeography and biology of its species, and illustrations of the adults and male and female genitalia (where known) of all taxa. We recognize twenty-two species, including nineteen new species: C. ariquemes sp.n., C. brasilia sp.n., C. breves sp.n., C. cacaulandia sp.n., C. cuiaba sp.n., C. humaita sp.n., C. ipiranga sp.n., C. iquitos sp.n., C. ma sp.n., C. manicore sp.n., C. manu sp.n., C. matic sp.n., C. maues sp.n., C. negro sp.n., C. palcazu sp.n., C. rocana sp.n., C. santarem sp.n., C. tapajos sp.n and C. tefe sp.n. A cladistic analysis using thirty-six characters of male and female genitalia and external facies generated a single most parsimonious cladogram highlighting the existence of two clades, the major and cleonus subgroups. As each species largely occupies a parapatric range, this cladogram provides the opportunity to reassess historical relationships among areas of endemism in the Amazon basin.
The Management of Grief: A Study of Black Funeral Practices

This study is concerned with the nature of the influence of noneconomic values in economic transactions. It deals with the ethnic differences in meeting the bereavement needs of black mourners, as ...
Pre-Steady-State Kinetic Characterization of Wild Type and 3‘-Azido-3‘-deoxythymidine (AZT) Resistant Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Reverse Transcriptase: Implication of RNA Directed DNA Polymerization in the Mechanism of AZT Resistance†

There is lack of a correlation between biochemical studies and the observed clinical resistance of AIDS patients on long term AZT therapy. Mutant HIV-1 reverse transcriptase in the viral isolates from these patients shows a 100-fold decrease in sensitivity whereas little or no difference is observed in kinetic parameters in vitro using steady-state kinetic analysis. A detailed pre-steady-state kinetic analysis of wild type and the clinically important AZT resistant mutant (D67N, K70R, T215Y, K219Q) HIV-1 reverse transcriptase was conducted to understand the mechanistic basis of drug resistance. In contrast to steady-state techniques, a pre-steady-state kinetic analysis allows for the direct observation of catalytic events occurring at the active site of the enzyme, including subtle conformational changes enabling a greater degree of mechanistic detail. In this investigation the rate of incorporation of dTMP and AZTMP by wild type and mutant HIV-1 RT was determined using an RNA and the corresponding DNA template. The present study has shown a 1.5-fold decrease in the rate constant for polymerization (kpol) and a 2.5-fold decrease in the equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) for AZTTP for the mutant reverse transcriptase as compared to the wild type, for RNA dependent DNA replication. These values translate into a 4-fold decrease in selectivity (kpol/Kd) for AZTMP incorporation by mutant reverse transcriptase as compared to wild type for RNA dependent DNA replication. No such decrease in selectivity was detected for DNA dependent replication. These results suggest that the basis of AZT resistance is related to RNA dependent replication rather than DNA dependent replication.
A lattice covering model for evaluating existing service facilities

This article presents the following location problem: align a regularly spaced grid of new facilities as well as possible with a set of existing centres. The problem has some similarity to a problem in classical central place theory, namely the spatial arrangement of services with a particular range of coverage. The article poses the problem, gives a non-linear formulation, and details solution approaches. A robust heuristic, based on geometric insights, is also devised: if the basis for the new grid is centred on at least one fixed centre, an enumeration of various rotation angles will be effective for finding local minima (and maxima). As a practical application of this problem, a region may wish to supplement an existing system of fixed siren locations with additional facilities in such a way as to fill in, or complete, the partial coverage pattern. An evaluation of the siren system in Dublin, OH, USA, is utilised to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique.
Pathophysiology of acute coronary 1-syndromes.

(1993). Pathophysiology of Acute Coronary 1-Syndromes. Platelets: Vol. 4, No. sup1, pp. 2-3.
Global-local approach to solving vibration of large truss structures

A global-local approach was proposed to solve dynamic problems involving truss beams. A continuum Timoshenko beam was used to model sections of truss beams wherever possible and accurate. Near applied loads the continuum model was not adequate and detailed truss finite elements (discrete model) were employed. This approach was also proven efficient for an odd-shaped truss structure connected to a truss beam. Between the continuum model and the discrete model, compatibility conditions were derived.
Demonstration of phase-regeneration of DPSK signals based on phase-sensitive amplification

Amplification and simultaneous phase regeneration of DPSK signals is demonstrated using a phase-sensitive amplifier. Phase-sensitive gain is achieved in a Sagnac fiber interferometer comprised of nonpolarization maintaining, highly nonlinear fiber operating in the un-depleted pump regime. Both the pump and signal are RZ-DPSK pulse trains. The amplifier is capable of producing greater than 13 dB of phase-sensitive gain for an average pumping power of 100 mW, and easily reduces the BER of the regenerated DPSK signal by two orders of magnitude compared to the un-regenerated signal, corresponding to a negative power penalty of 2 dB. Careful optimization of the regenerator reveals much stronger BER Improvement.
Deficient Red-Cell Spectrin in Severe, Recessively Inherited Spherocytosis

RED-CELL-membrane architecture has been extensively studied in recent years.1 , 2 When the cells are hypotonically lysed and washed free of hemoglobin, the resulting membrane ghosts consist of the ...
Analytical Jet Spectroscopy of Tyrosine and its Analogs Using a Pulsed Laser Desorption Volatilization Method

Pulsed laser desorption is used as a means of volatilizing nonvolatile and thermally labile molecules for entrainment into a supersonic jet expansion. The jet expansion provides ultracold molecules whose sharp spectral features are probed by resonant two-photon ionization spectroscopy in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Such jet-cooled spectra are demonstrated for tyrosine and related structural analogs. Despite the similarity between these tyrosine-based compounds, electronic spectroscopy is shown to be a sensitive probe of small structural changes in these related biological compounds.
Transmission electron microscopy study of defects in AlN crystals with rough and smooth surface grains

Abstract Defects present in (0 0 0 1) textured polycrystalline AlN grown by the sublimation–recombination method were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. Grains in the polycrystalline boule had either a smooth or a rough surface. The rough surface grains had mainly edge dislocations, whereas the smooth surface grains had some sub-grain boundaries and were mostly free of dislocations. Dislocations at the grain boundaries were pinned and could not be annihilated.
Cluster Ion Formation in Free Jet Expansion Processes at Low Temperatures

An experimental high voltage post-acceleration facility for the detection of high molecular weight cluster ions is described. A summary of results obtained with this facility in studies of high molecular weight water and argon cluster ions is presented. Results on studies of hydrogen cluster ion formation in the expansion of pure weakly ionized hydrogen gas are also presented. Attempts to limit cluster ion formation in hydrogen to quasi equilibrium conditions inside the ion source with source apertures as small as 0.00125 cm were inconclusive. These studies indicated that approximately 25–33 cluster-ion hydrogen molecule collisions could serve to stabilize the growing cluster ions.
Estrogen- and antiestrogen-responsiveness of HEC1A endometrial adenocarcinoma cells in culture

HEC1A endometrial cancer cells express the wild-type form of the estrogen receptor (ER) and 17beta-estradiol (E2) induces proliferation of these cells. In contrast, tamoxifen only causes a minimal increase (<20%) in cell proliferation. In HEC1A cells transiently transfected with the C3-Luc plasmid derived from the complement C3 gene, both E2 and tamoxifen exhibited ER agonist activity and tamoxifen was also a partial antagonist for this response. The relative ER agonist/antagonist activities of E2, tamoxifen and ICI 182,780 were also investigated in HEC1A1 cells transiently transfected with two E2-responsive plasmids, pCATHD-CAT and pCKB-CAT which contain 5'-promoter inserts from the cathepsin D and creatine kinase B genes, respectively. The results showed that E2 and tamoxifen induced reporter gene activity in cells transiently transfected with both constructs. ICI 182,780 exhibited partial ER agonist activity only in cells transiently transfected with pCKB-CAT and antagonized E2-induced reporter gene activity using both the CKB- and CATHD-derived constructs. These results demonstrate that HEC1A endometrial cancer cells are E2-responsive and represent a useful cell culture model for understanding hormone/antihormone-induced endometrial cell responses.
Resonant X-ray scattering studies of epitaxial complex oxide thin films

Resonant anomalous X-ray reflectivity (RAXR) is a powerful technique for measuring element-specific distribution profiles across surfaces and buried interfaces. Here, the RAXR technique is applied to characterize a complex oxide heterostructure, La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ, on NdGaO3, and the effects of data sampling and model-dependent fitting procedures on the extracted elemental distribution profile are evaluated. The strontium profile through a 3.5 nm-thick film at 973 K and at an oxygen partial pressure of 150 Torr (1 Torr = 133.32 Pa) was determined from the measured RAXR spectra. The results demonstrate that in situ RAXR measurements can provide key insights into temperature- and environment-dependent elemental segregation processes, relevant, for example, in assessing the cathode performance of solid oxide fuel cells.
Potential Acuity Meter for Predicting Postoperative Visual Acuity in Penetrating Keratoplasty: A New Method Using a Hard Contact Lens

Abstract An irregular corneal surface degrades the optical transmission and limits the effectiveness of the potential acuity meter (PAM) in predicting postkeratoplasty visual acuity. The authors investigated the efficacy of using a temporarily placed hard contact lens to neutralize surface irregularities in conjunction with the PAM in predicting post-keratoplasty visual acuity. A prospective evaluation was performed on 40 keratoplasty patients with a mean follow-up of 10.4 months. Of 27 patients with corneas clear enough to permit them to read letters on the PAM chart, 17 (63%) had very accurately predicted visual acuities by this new method, compared to only eight patients (30%) with the PAM alone. Three patients had predicted visions better than final vision, but this was due to a concurrent cataract in two cases and chronic cystoid macular edema (CME) in the third case. This study indicates that temporarily placing a hard contact lens for use with the PAM can increase its accuracy in predicting final visual acuity after penetrating keratoplasty.
The use of adjunct displays to facilitate comprehension of causal relationships in expository text

We examined whether making cause and effect relationships explicit with an adjunct display improves different facets of text comprehension compared to a text only condition. In two experiments, participants read a text and then either studied a causal diagram, studied a list, or reread the text. In both experiments, readers who studied the adjunct displays better recalled the steps in the causal sequences, answered more problem-solving transfer items correctly, and answered more questions about transitive relationships between causes and effects correctly than those who reread the text. These findings supported the causal explication hypothesis, which states that adjunct displays improve comprehension of causal relationships by explicitly representing a text’s causal structure, which helps the reader better comprehend causal relationships.
Early Degenerative Changes Associated with Spontaneous Glaucoma in Dogs

false-positive sera were mixed (1: 1) with 2-Me, none of them gave a positive result in AGID (HSE). These results indicate that most of false-positive results in the AGID (HSE) are attributable to IgM, which because of its larger size and molecular weight as compared with IgG would take more time to develop precipitation lines than would true positive sera. Such reactions may be avoided by a 2-Me treatment that destroys the IgM pentamer. The AGID (HSE) should be avoided as a sole test because many of the positive precipitation reactions cannot be confirmed by other procedures such as blood cultures. Also, serum of infected dogs can yield equivocal results, especially during the early or the late stages of infection, indicating lack of test specificity. This report is the first documentation of B. canis antibodies detected in Spain by use of RSAT (M-) and AGID (CPAg).
Genetic analysis of tumorigenesis: X. Chromosome studies of transformed mutants and tumor-derived CHEF/18 cells.

Chinese hamster embryo fibroblast cell line CHEF/18 is stably diploid, anchorage-dependent, has a high serum requirement, and does not form tumors in nude mice. The chromosome constitutions of spontaneous and chemically induced anchorage-independent and/or low-serum CHEF/18 mutants and tumors produced in nude mice by some of these mutants are compared. We find a correlation between diploidy and nontumorigenicity among the anchorage-independent mutants but not in the low-serum mutants. One of the four spontaneous and six of the 15 chemically induced anchorage mutants have remained diploid. The remaining 12 mutants are pseudodiploid or aneuploid, and seven of them contain changes in chromosome 1, either a translocation or a deletion involving breakage at the same position (1q11–12). Each of the tumors induced by six mutants has a unique pattern of rearrangements;however five of the six have changes involving chromosome 3. This chromosome was also frequently rearranged in tumorderived cells previously investigated.
The impact of recruiting on NCAA basketball success

This study examines whether highly ranked recruiting classes significantly impact the number of games won by an NCAA men's basketball team the following year. The results suggest that highly regarded freshman guards increase the number of wins whereas freshman players at other positions do not have a significant impact. Although both experience and incoming talent significantly affect regular season wins, the results imply that experience trumps freshman talent in post-season play in the NCAA tournament.
A polynomial approximation scheme for scheduling on uniform processors: Using the dual approximation approach

In this paper we present a polynomial approximation scheme for the minimum makespan problem on uniform parallel processors. More specifically, the problem is to find a schedule for a set of independent jobs on a collection of machines of different speeds so that the last job to finish is completed as quickly as possible. We give a family of polynomial-time algorithms {A∈} such that A∈ delivers a solution that is within a relative error of e of the optimum. The technique employed is the dual approximation approach, where infeasible but superoptimal solutions for a related (dual) problem are converted to the desired feasible but possibly suboptimal solution.
Rapid induction of complete donor chimerism by the use of a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen composed of fludarabine and melphalan in allogeneic stem cell transplantation for metastatic solid tumors

We evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of a reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen of fludarabine and melphalan to achieve rapid complete donor chimerism after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) in patients with metastatic solid tumors. Between January 1999 and January 2003, 8 patients with metastatic breast cancer (BC) and 15 with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) underwent allogeneic SCT after an RIC regimen of 5 days of fludarabine and 2 days of melphalan. Filgrastim-mobilized stem cells from HLA-identical related or unrelated donors were infused. Prophylaxis for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) consisted of tacrolimus and methotrexate. All 22 evaluable patients had 100% donor chimerism at day 30 and at all measurement times thereafter. One patient died 19 days after SCT. Nine patients (39%) had grades II to IV acute GVHD and 10 patients (43%) had chronic GVHD. Five patients (22%) died of nonrelapse treatment-related complications. Treatment-related disease response was seen in 10 patients (45%), with 3 complete responses, 2 partial responses, and 5 minor responses. Fludarabine-melphalan is a feasible and effective RIC regimen for allogeneic SCT in metastatic BC and RCC. It induces rapid complete donor chimerism without the need for donor lymphocyte infusion. Tumor regression associated with GVHD is consistent with graft-versus-tumor effect. (Blood. 2003;102:3829-3836)
Variance Estimation for Differential Test Functioning Based on Mantel-Haenszel Statistics

This article concerns the simultaneous assessment of DIF for a collection of test items. Rather than an average or sum in which positive and negative DIF may cancel, we propose an index that measures the variance of DIF on a test as an indicator of the degree to which different items show DIF in different directions. It is computed from standard Mantel-Haenszel statistics (the logodds ratio and its variance error) and may be conceptually classified as a variance component or variance effect size. Evaluated by simulation under three item response models (IPL, 2PL, and 3PL), the index is shown to be an accurate estimate of the DTF generating parameter in the case of the 1PL and 2PL models with groups of equal ability. For groups of unequal ability, the index is accurate under the I PL but not the 2PL condition; however, a weighted version of the index provides improved estimates. For the 3PL condition, the DTF generating parameter is underestimated. This latter result is due in part to a mismatch in the scales of the log-odds ratio and IRT difficulty.
205Tl NMR methods for the characterization of monovalent cation binding to nucleic acids.

Monovalent cations play an important role in many biological functions. The guanine rich sequence, d(G4T4G4), requires monovalent cations for formation of the G-quadruplex, d(G4T4G4)2. This requirement can be satisfied by thallium (Tl+), a potassium (K+) surrogate. To verify that the structure of d(G4T4G4)2 in the presence of Tl+ is similar to the K+-form of the G-quadruplex, the solution structure of the Tl+-form of d(G4T4G4)2 was determined. The 10 lowest energy structures have an all atom RMSD of 0.76 ± 0.16 A. Comparison of this structure to the identical G-quadruplex formed in the presence of K+ validates the isomorphous nature of Tl+ and K+. Using a 1H−205Tl spin−echo difference experiment we show that, in the Tl+-form of d(G4T4G4)2, small scalar couplings (<1 Hz) exist between 205Tl and protons in the G-quadruplex. These data comprise the first 1H−205Tl scalar couplings observed in a biological system and have the potential to provide important constraints for structure determination. These experim...
Physician barriers to lead testing of Medicaid-enrolled children.

Background.—The rate of blood lead testing among Medicaid-enrolled children is low. Objective.—To determine barriers to lead testing perceived by pediatricians to develop future interventions to improve the rate of appropriate blood lead testing. Methods.—We developed a mail survey based on findings from 6 focus groups of primary-care providers in Michigan. We then surveyed a random sample of 520 primary-care pediatricians in Michigan. Pediatricians who did not accept Medicaid were excluded from the analysis. Results.—The overall response rate was 65% (257 of 396 potentially eligible respondents). Most (68%) reported that they routinely test 1-year-old Medicaid-enrolled children. Practices with onsite blood testing were more likely to report routine testing of 1-year-old children (79% vs 62%; P Conclusions.—To improve the rate of blood lead testing, the public health department should provide pediatricians with data regarding the local risk of lead poisoning. The public health department should also consider working with practices to facilitate onsite blood collection for lead testing.
Intestinal type of mucinous borderline tumor arising from mixed epithelial and stromal tumor of kidney.

We report a mucinous borderline tumor arising from a mixed epithelial and stromal tumor of left kidney (MESTK). The patient was an 82-year-old woman who presented with gross hematuria and recurrent urinary tract infection for years. The patient had a cytoscopy with a retrograde pyelogram, which indicated a dilated left kidney with a central mass lesion. Subsequently, she underwent a radical left nephrectomy. Cross-sections of left kidney showed a 4.5 × 3.5 × 1.5 cm ill-defined cystic lesion with mucinous and solid areas. Histologic sections of the lesion showed numerous variable-sized dilated cysts with fibrous, fatty, vascular, and smooth muscle stroma. The cysts were lined by a various types of epithelium, including single layer of flat, cuboidal and mucinous epithelium, urothelium, intestinal epithelium, and endocervical epithelium. In areas, the mucinous epithelium showed complex proliferation with stratification, papillae formation, and nuclear atypia, resembling that of an ovarian mucinous borderline tumor, a colorectal tubular adenoma, or a low-grade appendiceal mucinous carcinoma. Immunohistochemically, the mucinous borderline tumor showed a colorectal phenotype, being strongly positive for CK20, CDX-2, and MUC2. There was no invasive mucinous tumor identified. We believe that this case represents the first reported example of mucinous borderline tumor arising from a MESTK.
A LC-MS/MS method for the analysis of intracellular nucleoside triphosphate levels.

Purpose To simultaneously quantify intracellular nucleoside triphosphate (NTP) and deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) pools and to assess their changes produced by interfering with ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) expression in leukemia cells.
The New History of World War I and What It Means for International Relations Theory

World War I looms large in international relations theory. The core concepts of defensive realism—the security dilemma, spiral model, and offense-defense balance—were largely inspired by this single historical case, and evidence from the war is frequently used to test explanations built on those concepts. The new historiography of World War I, however, challenges many of the long-held assumptions about the origins of the conflict. Newly available evidence strongly suggests that German leaders went to war in 1914 with eyes wide open. They provoked a war to achieve their goal of dominating the European continent, and did so aware that the coming conflict would almost certainly be long and bloody. Germany's leaders did not go to war with a bold operational blueprint for quick victory embodied in the Schlieffen Plan; they did not misjudge the nature of modern war; and they did not lose control of events on the eve of the conflict and attack out of fear that Germany's enemies would move first. In light of the ...
A novel role for iNOS in formation of cGMP-dependent protein complex regulating TNF-receptor shedding and hepatocellular protection during endotoxemia

TNFα is produced in significant quantities during endotoxemia and can induce liver cell apoptosis. Type 1 TNF-receptor (TNFR1) can be cleaved from the cell surface by TACE/ADAM17 allowing binding to excess TNF, and reducing liver damage, although the mechanism of TACE activation is unknown. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is also hepatoprotective during endotoxemia. The aim of this study was to identify whether iNOS-dependent signaling regulates TACE activation and TNFR1-shedding for hepatocellular protection. Primary mouse hepatocytes were isolated from C57BL/6 mice and treated for 12 h with LPS (100 ng/mL) and NO donor SNAP (80 μM). TACE activity and soluble TNFR1(sTNFR1) levels in culture media significantly increased after just 30 min with LPS/SNAP compared to controls (p = 0.002). Both iNOS inhibitor (1400 W–2.5 μM) and soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor (ODQ-20 μM) blocked TACE activity and TNFR1-shedding. Conversely, hepatocytes treated with cell-permeable cGMP-analog (8-Br-cGMP-800 μM) had significantly increased TACE activity and sTNFR1 after 30 min compared with untreated controls (p = 0.015). This increase in sTNFR1 was significantly reduced after addition of either ODQ or Protein Kinase G-inhibitor (PKG-inhibitor-20 μM). Coimmunoprecipitation experiments revealed iNOS, activated TACE, TNFR1 and PKG are mutually associated at the hepatocyte membrane after stimulation with LPS, and this association is required for TACE activation. Furthermore, treatment of protein extracts with ODQ, PKG inhibitor or TAPI-1 (TACE inhibitor) prevented formation of the complex. Taken together our findings suggest that iNOS-derived cGMP induces the shedding of cell surface TNFR1 through the formation of a multi-protein membrane-associated complex. These data shed light on the mechanism of hepatoprotection by iNOS during infection and inflammation.
CODEMINE: Building a Software Development Data Analytics Platform at Microsoft

The scale and speed of today's software development efforts impose unprecedented constraints on the pace and quality of decisions made during planning, implementation, and postrelease maintenance and support for software. Decisions during the planning process include level of staffing and choosing a development model given the scope of a project and timelines. Tracking progress, course correcting, and identifying and mitigating risks are key in the development phase, as are monitoring aspects of and improving overall customer satisfaction in the maintenance and support phase. Availability of relevant data can greatly increase both the speed and likelihood of making a decision that leads to a successful software system. This article outlines the process Microsoft has gone through developing CODEMINE--a software development data analytics platform for collecting and analyzing engineering process datamits constraints, and pivotal organizational and technical choices.
Going Beyond Exposure to Local News Media: An Information-Processing Examination of Public Perceptions of Food Safety

The relationship between local news media and public perceptions of food safety was examined in a statewide telephone survey (n = 524). The theoretical framework of the study was based on a review of the social and psychological factors that affect public concerns about food safety, the relationship between mass communication and risk perception, and the thesis of information-processing strategies and its impact on learning from the news. The results show that information-processing strategies substantially mediated the relationship between local news media and public perceptions of food safety, with elaborative processing being more influential than active reflection in people's learning from the news media. Attention to local television had an independent effect, after demographics, awareness of food safety problems, and perceived safety of local food supply were statistically controlled. Other important predictors included gender, education, ethnicity, and perceived safety of local food supply.
Tradition, Commitment, and Individualism in American Marriages

The target article by Finkel, Hui, Carswell, and Larson (this issue) skillfully interweaves work by historians, sociologists, demographers, and psychologists to show how marriage has changed in the...
SU‐E‐I‐134: Integration of Multiparametric and Multimodality Whole Body Radiological Imaging (MRI/PET/CT)

Purpose: To investigate the use of non linear dimensionality reduction (NLDR) techniques for integration, segmentation and quantification of multiparametric whole body (WB) radiological imaging methods. Methods: Twenty subjects were prospectively scanned with WB‐MRI and PET/CT, ten patients(age:61±12) and ten normal subjects(age:48± 11). WB‐MRI of T2WI, T1‐STIR and DWI were acquired at 3T. PET/CT using 18FDG or other advanced radiotracers, 11C‐acetate, 11C‐choline and Na18F was obtained on patients. If present, metastatic disease was confirmed by clinical standards. Whole body trace ADC maps, T1 and T2 were constructed for quantitative analysis and ROIs were drawn in regions of normal and abnormal appearing signal intensity. WB‐MRI and PET/CT data were co‐registered before application of the NDLR methods using a non‐rigid model. NLDR methods used were Isomap, locally linear embedding(LLE) and Diffusion‐Maps. The embedded image was constructed by projecting the feature spaces (image intensities) associated with each of the radiological modalities into a one dimensional embedding space (manifold). Dice similarity(DS) indices were calculated and statistical analysis was performed on them. Results: Integration of multiparametric WB‐MRI and PET/CT is feasible. WB‐DWI was able to distinguish potential metastatic regions in 7 patients, none were found in the other three with colocalization on WB‐MRI and 11C‐choline PET, but not in the NAF. These regions had decreased ADC values compared to normal tissue. The ADC values were significantly different(p=0.01) between patients and normal subjects. The segmented regions were congruent with a mean DS of (90.4+/−2.6)%. The computational load varied with the LLE as the having lowest compared to Isomap and Diffusion‐Maps. Conclusions: The integration of different WB modalities will provide a method to identify “global” tumor burdens and monitor treatment. There were significant differences in the ADC values in areas of metastatic disease compared to normal subjects. Our data suggest the potential of multimodality WB methods for characterization of metastatic disease.
Adipose aspirates as a source for human processed lipoaspirate cells after optimal cryopreservation.

Background:The purpose of this study was to test the authors' hypothesis that previously cryopreserved adipose aspirates collected from conventional liposuction could still be a reliable source of human processed lipoaspirate cells.Methods:Adipose aspirates were collected from 12 adult female patien
The effect of familiarity on distraction and single cue use after hippocampal damage.

Spatial disorientation frequently occurs in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease that damage the hippocampus, a brain structure necessary for learning and memory. Use of a single cue to mark a submerged escape platform in the Morris water test can reduce spatial disorientation in rats. If the cue used is a familiar one, disoriented rats perform the wayfinding task as well as control animals. However, in a real-world environment, cues rarely occur alone. This study examined whether rats with bilateral hippocampal lesions familiar with a cue performed the Morris water test as well as controls and faster than lesioned rats unfamiliar with the cue when a distracter was present. Bilateral electrolytic lesions were made in male rats that had received either familiarity with a cue or handling only. Familiar lesioned rats were introduced to the distracter on test days 1 (FB1) or 3 (FB3), and unfamiliar lesioned rats on day 3 (UB3). No significant differences were found for FB1 or FB3 rats and their respective c...