cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Phase II Study of 5-Fluorouracil, Oxaliplatin plus Dasatinib (FOLFOX-D) in First-Line Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

LESSONS LEARNED Preclinical studies have demonstrated that Src inhibition through dasatinib synergistically enhances the antitumor effects of oxaliplatin. In this phase II, single-arm study, FOLFOX with dasatinib in previously untreated patients with mPC only showed only modest clinical activity, with a progressive-free survival of 4 months and overall survival of 10.6 months. Continued investigation is ongoing to better understand the role of Src inhibition with concurrent 5-fluorouracil and oxaliplatin in a subset of exceptional responders. BACKGROUND Src tyrosine kinase activity is overexpressed in many human cancers, including metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC). Dasatinib is a potent inhibitor of Src family of tyrosine kinases. This study was designed to investigate whether dasatinib can synergistically enhance antitumor effects of FOLFOX regimen (FOLFOX-D). METHODS In this single-arm, phase II study, previously untreated patients received dasatinib 150 mg oral daily on days 1-14, oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2 intravenous (IV) on day 1 every 14 days, leucovorin (LV) 400 mg/m2 IV on day 1 every 14 days, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) bolus 400 mg/m2 on day 1 every 14 days, and 5-FU continuous infusion 2,400 mg/m2 on day 1 every 14 days. Primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) with preplanned comparison to historical controls. RESULTS Forty-four patients enrolled with an estimated median PFS of 4.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3-8.5) months and overall survival (OS) of 10.6 (95% CI, 6.9-12.7) months. Overall response rate (ORR) was 22.7% (n = 10): one patient (2.3%) with complete response (CR) and nine patients (20.5%) with partial response (PR). Fifteen patients (34.1%) had stable disease (SD). Nausea was the most common adverse event (AE) seen in 35 patients (79.5%). CONCLUSION The addition of dasatinib did not appear to add incremental clinical benefit to FOLFOX in untreated patients with mPC.
Precarious Times, Professional Tensions: The Ethics of Migration Research and the Drive for Scientific Accountability:

How should migration scholars navigate tensions between our ethical responsibilities to research participants and growing “open science” calls for data transparency, replication, and accountability...
Generation of Spatiotemporal Optical Vortex with Partial Temporal Coherence

We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally, the generation of spatiotemporal optical vortices using a light source with partial temporal coherence, which could serve as a cheaper source for generating such vortices.
Palliative Care for Children with Lung Diseases

Childhood lung diseases are associated with a variety of symptoms and outcomes and often carry significant physical morbidity and emotional burden as well as the potential need for decisions about supportive technologies and lung transplantation. Pulmonary clinicians and mental health providers with expertise in chronic childhood illnesses provide many aspects of palliative care to children with lung disease as part of routine care and may consult palliative care specialists when unmet needs are identified or concerns intensify. In this chapter, we will highlight key palliative care issues in childhood lung diseases, addressing approaches to care in the major domains of palliative care.
Familial Dysautonomia and Other Congenital Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathies

Since we are concerned at this conference with neuronal development, it is appropriate to consider those human disorders that may represent aberrations in development or function. These would be the congenital sensory neuropathies, rather than those that are acquired or of adult onset. Congenital sensory neuropathies are rare and can present as diagnostic problems, since analgesia and autonomic function are difficult to evaluate objectively in the young child. Controversy over terminology further confuses classification of the congenital sensory neuropathies (Axelrod, 1983; Dyck and Ohta, 1975).
Gallbladder Volvulus Presenting as Acute Appendicitis

We encountered a case of gallbladder volvulus in an 88-year-old thin female in which the initial presentation was more consistent with that of acute appendicitis. After complete work-up, including physical exam, lab work, and computed tomography, the definite diagnosis of gallbladder volvulus was not made until intraoperative visualization was obtained. Gallbladder volvulus is a rare but serious condition, which requires a high clinical suspicion so prompt surgical intervention can be undertaken.
Search for the Flavor-Changing Neutral-Current in the Decay Σ+→pμ+μ−

The Fermilab HyperCP (E871) experiment collected on the order of 10 10 hyperon decays. Based on an analysis of the data set collected in 1999 run, we will report on the observation of events with reconstructed masses consistent with that of Σ + assuming the final state p μ + μ − . If the observed events are the decay Σ + → p μ + μ − , then they would be the first evidence of this decay. Other possible interpretations of the observed events will also be discussed.
Activating the marketing concept in a global context

There is limited understanding of how businesses, particularly in a global context, activate the marketing concept in order to become market‐driven. A study was conducted to delineate the activation process in an international setting, and some of the facilitating and impeding factors. In‐depth interviews were conducted with executives of 22 subsidiaries of a multinational firm. Activation appeared to consist of interpreting, adopting and implementing the marketing concept. Implementation is itself a sequence of market intelligence activities. Greater adoption and implementation, as well as higher quality intelligence work, are tied to stronger organizational performance. Facilitators (e.g. top management commitment) and inhibitors (e.g. over‐emphasis on profits) were identified. Other dimensions also surfaced including the slow, top‐down path of adoption, national culture, and market competitiveness. Recommendations were made on enhancing activation success.
Cyclosporine A and tacrolimus inhibit bladder cancer growth through down-regulation of NFATc1.

// Takashi Kawahara 1, 2 , Eiji Kashiwagi 1 , Hiroki Ide 1 , Yi Li 2 , Yichun Zheng 1, 2 , Yurina Miyamoto 2 , George J. Netto 1 , Hitoshi Ishiguro 1, 2 , Hiroshi Miyamoto 1, 2 1 Departments of Pathology and Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA 2 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA Correspondence to: Hiroshi Miyamoto, e-mail: hmiyamo1@jhmi.edu Keywords: bladder cancer, cyclosporine, NFAT, tacrolimus, tumor progression Received: October 27, 2014 Accepted: November 15, 2014 Published: January 08, 2015 ABSTRACT The functional role of nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT), a key regulator of the immune response, in bladder cancer progression remains uncertain. In this study, we assessed biological significance of NFAT in human bladder cancer. Immunohistochemistry detected nuclear/cytoplasmic NFATc1 signals in 14 (21.5%)/34 (52.3%), respectively, of 65 muscle-invasive bladder carcinomas and showed that patients with nuclear NFATc1-positive tumor had a significantly higher risk of disease progression ( P = 0.006). In bladder cancer cell lines, cyclosporine A (CsA) and tacrolimus (FK506), immunosuppressant drugs/non-selective NFAT inhibitors, attenuated NFATc1 expression and its nuclear translocation, NFAT transcriptional activity, and the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and c-myc, downstream targets of NFATc1. NFAT inhibition via NFATc1-small interfering RNA (siRNA) or treatment with these NFAT inhibitors resulted in decreases in cell viability/colony formation, cell migration/invasion, and the expression/activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9, as well as an increase in apoptosis, in the parental/control lines. No significant additional inhibition in the viability and invasion of NFATc1-siRNA cells was seen. In xenograft-bearing mice, CsA and FK506 significantly retarded tumor growth. These results suggest that NFATc1 plays an important role in bladder cancer outgrowth. Thus, NFATc1 inactivation, especially using CsA and FK506, has the potential of being a therapeutic approach for bladder cancer.
Parapinopsin, a Novel Catfish Opsin Localized to the Parapineal Organ, Defines a New Gene Family

Multiple sites of extraretinal photoreception are present in vertebrates, but the molecular basis of extraretinal phototransduction is poorly understood. This study reports the cloning of the first opsin specifically expressed in the directly photosensitive pineal and parapineal of cold-blooded vertebrates. This opsin, identified in channel catfish and termed parapinopsin, defines a new gene family of vertebrate photopigments and is expressed in a majority of parapinealocytes and a subset of pineal photoreceptor cells. Parapinopsin shows a caudal-rostral gradient of expression within the pineal organ. This study also reports the cloning of partial cDNAs encoding the channel catfish orthologues of rhodopsin and the red cone pigment-the full complement of retinal opsins in the species. In situ hybridization studies using probes derived from these retinal opsins, together with parapinopsin, reveal no expression of retinal opsins in pineal and parapineal organ and no expression of any opsin tested in the "deep brain," iris, or dermal melanophores. These data imply that phototransduction in these sites of extraretinal photoreception must be mediated by novel opsins.
Fast and efficient parallel linear programming and linear least squares computations

We present a new parallel algorithm for computing a least squares solution to a sparse overdetermined system of linear equations Ax=b such that m×n matrix A is sparse and the graph, G=(V,E), of the matrix \(H = \left[ {\begin{array}{*{20}c}I & {A^T } \\A & O \\\end{array} } \right]\) has an s(m+n)-separator family, that is, either |V| <n0 for a fixed constant n0 or, by deleting a separator subset S of vertices of the size ≤ s(m+n), G can be partitioned into two disconnected subgraphs having vertex sets V1,V2 of the sizes ≤ 2/3 (m+n) and each of the two resulting subgraphs induced by the vertex sets S ∪ Vi, i=1,2, can be recursively s(|S ∪ Vi|)-separated in a similar way. Our algorithm uses O(log (m+n) log2s(m+n)) steps and ≤ s3(m+n) processors; it relies on our recent parallel algorithm for solving sparse linear systems and has several immediate applications of interest, in particular to mathematical programming, to sparse nonsymmetric systems of linear equations, and to the path algebra computations. We most closely examine the impact on the linear programming problem, l.p.p., which requires to maximize cTy subject to ATy ≤ b, y ≥ 0 where A is an m×n matrix. Hereafter it is assumed that m ≥ n. The recent algorithm by N. Karmarkar gives the best known upper estimate (O(m3.5 L) arithmetic operations where L is the input size) for the cost of the solution of this problem in the worst case. We prove an asymptotic improvement of that result in the case where the graph of the associated matrix H has an s(m+n)-separator family; then our algorithm can be implemented using O(m L log m log2s(m+n)) parallel arithmetic steps, s3(m+n) processors and a total of O(m L s3(m+n) log m log2s(m+n)) arithmetic operations. In many cases of practical importance this is a considerable improvement of the known estimates: for example, s(m+n) = √8 (m+n) if G is planar (as occurs in many operations research applications, for instance, in the problem of computing the maximum multicommodity flow with a bounded number of commodities in a network having an s(m+n)-separator family), so that the processor bound is only 8 √8 (m+n)1.5 and the total number of arithmetic steps is O(m2.5L) in that case. Similarly Karmarkar's algorithm and the known algorithms for the solution of overdetermined linear systems are accelerated in the case of dense input matrices via our recent parallel algorithms for the inversion of dense k×k matrices using O(log2k) steps, k3 processors. Combined with a modification of Karmarkar's algorithm, this implies solution of l.p.p. using O(Lm log2m) steps, m2.5 processors. The stated results promise some important practical applications. Theoretically the above processor bounds can be reduced for dense matrix inversion to o(k2.5) and for l.p.p. to o(m2.165) in the dense case and to o(s2.5(m+n)) in the sparse case (preserving the same number of parallel steps); this also decreases the sequential time bound for the l.p.p. by a factor of m0.335, that is, to O(Lm3.165).
The Function of Electrostatics in Acetylcholinesterase Catalysis

A hallmark of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) catalysis is its great speed (Quinn, 1987; Rosenberry, 1975). For example, Nolte et al. (1980) reported that kcat/Km for Electrophorus electricus AChE (EeAChE) catalyzed hydrolysis of acetylthiocholine (ATCh), extrapolated to zero ionic strength, approaches 1010 M−1 s−1, a value well above the Eigen limit for bimolecular combination of ligands with enzymes (Eigen & Hammes, 1963). In addition, bimolecular rate constants that approach 1011 M−1 s−1 for binding of aromatic quaternary ammonium inhibitors have been observed (Nolte et al., 1980). The molecular origins of these high rate constants have only recently become apparent. Ripoll et al. (1993) utilized the X-ray structure of Torpedo californica AChE (TcAChE; Sussman et al., 1991) to calculate the electric field of the enzyme. They found that the hemisphere of AChE that contains the active site gorge (Sussman et al., 1991) has a high negative electrical potential, and that the overall protein has a dipole moment of greater than 500 D, with the dipole moment vector aligned with the axis of the gorge. This electric field should accelerate the binding of positive charged quaternary ammonium ligands, an idea that is supported by both theoretical calculations (Tan et al., 1992) and measurements of ionic strength effects (Nolte et al., 1980).
SU-E-T-84: A Survey On Radiotherapy Table Tolerances and Couch Overrides of Over 350 Institutions

Purpose: Table overrides are relatively common in radiotherapy, yet are a potential safety concern. The goal of this study was to survey current departmental policies on treatment couch overrides and table tolerance values used clinically. Methods: A 25 question electronic survey on couch overrides and tolerances was sent to full members of the AAPM. In the first part of the survey, participants were asked: if table overrides were allowed at their institution, who was allowed to perform these overrides, and if imaging was required with overrides. In the second part of the survey, individuals were asked to provide table tolerance data for the following sites: brain/head & neck, lung, breast, abdomen/pelvis and prostate. Each site was further divided into IMRT/VMAT and 3D conformal techniques. Free-text spaces were provided, allowing respondents to enter any table tolerance data they were unable to specify under the treatment sites listed. Results: A total of 361 individuals responded, of which approximately half participated in the couch tolerances portion of the survey. Overall, 86% of respondents’ institutions allow couch tolerance overrides at treatment. Therapists were the most common staff members permitted to perform overrides, followed by physicists, dosimetrists, and physicians, respectively. Of the institutions allowing overrides, 34% reported overriding daily. More than half of the centers require documentation of the override and/or a setup image (acquired after override) to radiographically verify the treatment site. With respect to table tolerances, groups resulting from the free-text responses were at the two extremes; SRS/SBRT were the tightest, while clinical setup/mets/extremities were the most generous. There was no qualitative difference between IMRT/VMAT and 3D conformal table tolerances. Conclusion: This work is intended to stimulate a discussion within the radiotherapy community. This discussion, supplemented by the survey results provides an opportunity for institutions to enhance patient safety during daily treatment delivery.
Emergent crystallinity and frustration with Bose–Einstein condensates in multimode cavities

We propose that condensed-matter phenomena involving the spontaneous emergence and dynamics of crystal lattices can be realized using Bose–Einstein condensates coupled to multimode optical cavities. It is known that, in the case of a transversely pumped single-mode cavity, the atoms crystallize at either the even or the odd antinodes of the cavity mode at sufficient pump laser intensity, thus spontaneously breaking a discrete translational symmetry. Here we demonstrate that, in multimode cavities, crystallization involves the spontaneous breaking of a continuous translational symmetry, through a variant of Brazovskii’s transition, thus paving the way for realizations of compliant lattices and associated phenomena, such as dislocations, frustration, glassiness and even supersolidity, in ultracold atomic settings, where quantum effects have a dominant role. We apply a functional-integral formalism to explore the role of fluctuations in this correlated many-body system, to calculate their effect on the threshold for ordering, and to determine their imprint on the correlations of the light emitted from the cavity. Optical lattices, generated by interfering laser beams, provide a platform for observing condensed-matter phenomena in ultracold-atom systems. By extending the lattice idea to a multimode cavity, it should be possible to observe even more complex effects, such as frustration, crystallization, glass phases and supersolidity.
Defining, Investigating, and Addressing Cancer Inequities: Critical Issues

Research and action to address social disparities in cancer require clarity about what constitutes and causes these persistent and onerous inequities in health. Currently, both scientific literature and government documents exhibit important disagreements, confused terminology, and considerable, if not deliberate, vagueness about the meaning of the phrase “cancer disparities.” To help clarify what is meant by social disparities in cancer and what this means for efforts to investigate their causes and act to rectify them, this chapter offers a definition of cancer inequities that is premised on the causal contention that health inequities, by definition, arise from social inequity and considers its implications for developing a multidisciplinary research agenda for investigating and addressing social inequalities in cancer. Tackling this issue will require rigorous and critical frameworks, questions, and methods derived from multiple disciplines and will necessarily involve epidemiologic, clinical, and intervention research, both quantitative and qualitative. At issue is making conscious research choices about which types of disparities we study, in relation to which aspect of cancer, so as to improve the likelihood our research will help inform a society-wide discourse about the extent of, origins of, and remedies for social injustices in cancer, thereby aiding efforts to eliminate health inequities.
Basal Cell Carcinoma on the Neck

BACKGROUND. In our Mohs surgery practice, a large number of basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) occurring on the neck were noted to be of the superficial type. OBJECTIVE. Our purpose was to examine a series of consecutive cases of BCC on the neck. METHODS. We reviewed all cases of BCC on the neck that were treated in our Mohs surgery unit from 1988 to 1993. Permanent histologic sections of the BCCs, obtained by excisional debulking of the tumors, were examined and the BCCs were typed histologically. Each histologic type was correlated with the patient's age, race, sex, its location on the neck, and its status as either a primary or recurrent lesion. RESULTS. In total, 97 BCCs on the neck from 93 patients were examined. All patients were Caucasians with an average age of 62.7 years. A peak incidence in the fifth decade occurred in males while this peak occurred in the eighth decade for females. Males outnumbered females 3.4 :1. The type and incidence of each BCC was studied with the following results : superficial (38.1%), mixed-superficial (30.0%), nodular (15.5%), infiltrative (7.2%), morpheaform (5.1%), adenoid (2.1%), keratotic (1.0%), and metatypical (1.0%). Fifty-one percent of the tumors were primary and 49% were recurrent. The most common location on the neck was the skin overlying the superior aspect of the sternocleidomastoid muscles. CONCLUSION. BCCs occurring on the neck were most commonly of the superficial type.
The Structure of High Pressure Ca(OD)2II from Powder Neutron Diffraction: Relationship to the ZrO2and EuI2Structures

The {open_quotes}unquenchable{close_quotes} high pressure form of Ca(OD){sub 2} [Ca(OH){sub 2}II] has been synthesized at 9 GPa and 400{degrees}C and recovered to ambient pressure at cryogenic temperatures. The structure was determined from powder neutron diffraction data using the Rietveld technique. The symmetry is monoclinic P2{sub 1}/c with a = 5.3979(4) {angstrom}, b = 6.0931(4) {angstrom}, c = 5.9852(4) {angstrom}, {beta} = 103.581(6), Z = 4 at 1 atm and 11 K. R{sub wp} = 2.8%, R{sub p} = 1.9%, reduced {chi}{sup 2} = 6.6. for 117 variables. The calcium and oxygen substructure is intermediate between that in {alpha}-PbO{sub 2} and that in fluorite; it was previously described as isostructural with baddeleyite (ZrO{sub 2}), but it is more accurately described as isostructural with EuI{sub 2}. This structure is distinguished by the presence of a 3{sup 6} anion met parallel to (100). Only one of the two kinds of D atoms in the structure shows appreciable hydrogen bonding to O, with a second neighbor D...O distance of 1.91 {angstrom}, and an O-D...O angle of 153.2{degrees}; the other D atom has 3 second-neighbor oxygens near 2.6 {angstrom} away.
Arterial grafts protect the native coronary vessels from atherosclerotic disease progression.

Background We sought to examine the effect of different conduits on the progression of atherosclerosis in previously revascularized coronary territories. Methods Between 1995 and 2010, 4,960 patients were discharged alive after primary isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with a left internal thoracic artery (LITA) conduit and additional conduits as needed: radial artery (RA) or saphenous vein graft (SVG), or both. Seven hundred seventy-two patients had coronary angiography for recurrent symptoms an average of 5.5 ± 3.5 years after CABG (range, 0.1–16 years). Cumulative graft patency and disease progression in the native vessels was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier survival method. The log-rank test was used to assess differences of disease progression per territory between different types of conduits. Results Kaplan-Meier–estimated 1-, 5-, and 10-year overall disease progression in territories with patent LITAs was 0.01%, 4%, and 8%, respectively; with patent RA grafts, it was 0.01%, 6%, and 11%, respectively (log-rank test, p = 0.157); and with patent SVGs it was 3%, 19%, and 43%, respectively (log-rank test; p p p Conclusions RA and LITA grafting has a strong protective effect against progression of native coronary artery disease in previously grafted vessels. Multiple arterial grafting may improve long-term survival by preventing progression of atherosclerosis in the native coronary vessels.
The Organizational Links Between Risk Communication and Risk Management: The Case of Sybron Chemicals Inc.

The risk communication literature is rife with prescriptions about how organizations should interact with various publics. However, little attention has been paid to the organizational adjustments that may be necessary for corporations to heed this advice. The primary question we explore is: What do companies do internally to increase the effectiveness of their communication externally? In this article, we explore relationships between risk management and risk communication and then suggest the organizational factors that may link the two. We present five propositions dealing with relationships between risk communication and risk management derived from an inâ€ depth case study of an exemplary risk communication program. We discuss the implications of this case study for further research.
Research Article: The Geography of New York State's Brownfield Cleanup Program: Population and Land Value Characteristics of Areas Surrounding New York City Properties Enrolled in New York State's Brownfield Cleanup Program

Over the past 30 years nearly every state has implemented a voluntary compliance program (VCP) to encourage development of lightly contaminated and abandoned properties also known as brownfields. Analyses of these policies consists primarily of either case studies or tabulations of site-specific characteristics such as the past, current, and future use of sites enrolled in programs. Often ignored in these analyses are the characteristics of areas surrounding these properties. This oversight is particularly problematic, because many commentators argue that VCPs encourage development in neighborhoods with strong real estate markets and predominantly White and wealthy residents while having little impact on poorer neighborhoods with primarily Black and Hispanic residents where brownfields tend to cluster. To date, however, little empirical research supports this claim. This article addresses this need by using tax-lot-level data in conjunction with data from the United States Decennial Census to examine the characteristics of the neighborhoods surrounding New York City properties enrolled in New York State's VCP: the Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP). I conclude that, for the city in general, even when controlling for the spatial distribution of brownfield sites, properties enrolled in the BCP are disproportionately located in neighborhoods with wealthier and Whiter residents and high property values. These results, however, obscure significant variability because projects cluster in a range of communities.Environmental Practice 11:245–255 (2009)
Identification of membrane proteins from mammalian cell/tissue using methanol-facilitated solubilization and tryptic digestion coupled with 2D-LC-MS/MS

The core prerequisites for an efficient proteome-scale analysis of mammalian membrane proteins are effective isolation, solubilization, digestion and multidimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). This protocol is for analysis of the mammalian membrane proteome that relies on solubilization and tryptic digestion of membrane proteins in a buffer containing 60% (vol/vol) methanol. Tryptic digestion is followed by strong cation exchange (SCX) chromatography and reversed phase (RP) chromatography coupled online with MS/MS for protein identification. The use of a methanol-based buffer eliminates the need for reagents that interfere with chromatographic resolution and ionization of the peptides (e.g., detergents, chaotropes, inorganic salts). Sample losses are minimized because solubilization and digestion are carried out in a single tube avoiding any sample transfer or buffer exchange between these steps. This protocol is compatible with stable isotope labeling at the protein and peptide level, enabling identification and quantitation of integral membrane proteins. The entire procedure—beginning with isolated membrane fraction and finishing with MS data acquisition—takes 4–5 d.
Evaluation of electronic assessment systems within the USA and their ability to meet the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Standard 2

This study explored what types (commercial, in-house, or hybrid) of electronic assessment systems (EASs) are currently being used at university-based educator preparation programs, how important the system components were at the time of system selection, how satisfied users were with the components of the system, and how well they perceive that their EAS was able to meet the data collection requirements of National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Standard 2. An electronic survey was sent to 775 NCATE coordinators or their equivalent as identified from each institution’s Web site with 225 participants completing the survey for a response rate of 31 %. Results showed that all EAS components identified were considered to be important and that the respondents were satisfied in general with the performance of those components. Further analysis revealed a lower level of satisfaction with the EAS components when compared to the importance of those same components. Also, analysis based on the specific type of EAS revealed differences in respondent perceptions regarding the system’s ability to systematically collect data, faculty access to the data, the ability to aggregate data, the ability to collect multiple assessments, and the costs associated with the system.
Locally Advanced Lung Cancer : Case Presentation

This clinical presentation demonstrates the clinical options available for treatment of a locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
Debt and distortionary taxation in a simple perfect foresight model

Abstract We examine the real effects of a temporary substitution of debt for distortionary income taxation. We find that such a policy may reduce consumption, increase investment, and reduce interest rates. These results arise even though we examine the same model used by Barro, where temporary substitution of debt for lump-sum taxes was shown to have no real effects. We show that these anti-Keynesian effects on consumption are as significant as various pro-Keynesian effects, such as finite lives. Hence, the impact of debt is an empirical issue and Ricardian neutrality appears to be a reasonable benchmark.
Long-time tails and brownian motion

Abstract We discuss the effects of hydrodynamics on the molecular derivation of the phenomenological Langevin equation. When the mass and density of the brownian particle are sufficiently large compared to the corresponding bath variables, the phenomenological equation is obtained. If, in addition, the size of the brownian particle is sufficiently large, the friction coefficient takes on its hydrodynamic (Stokes) form.
Religious Orientation and Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors

Religion is one of the major forces of control over sexuality, and many studies have observed an inverse relationship between religiosity and sexual permissiveness. The Religious Orientation Scale has been used to study the relationship between religious orientation and sexuality. It has been found that those with intrinsic views are more conservative in their sexual values while those who are extrinsic have more liberal views. The purpose of this study was to use the Religious Life Inventory, an instrument that also has a quest orientation, to evaluate the relationship between religious orientation and various premarital sexual activities and attitudes within a sample of conservative religious students. Inverse correlations were found for those with internal and external scores, while weak but positive correlations were found for those with quest scores. These findings suggest that those with a more open-minded position on religion may have the same open-minded position on sexuality.
Sex difference in attitudes toward paternity testing

Abstract We tested the hypothesis that men would favor routine paternity testing more than women by administering surveys. Indeed, more men (50%) than women (32%) favored paternity testing. We found no support for two secondary hypotheses about ways in which one's attitude would vary with income and marital status. We also present preliminary evidence that many males prefer preserving the ambiguity of paternity.
Motivation and physiologic responses of playing a physically interactive video game relative to a sedentary alternative in children.

Background While there is emerging research outlining the physiologic cost of the physically interactive Nintendo Wii, there are no evaluations of the relative reinforcing value (RRV) of the Wii versus a sedentary alternative.
In vivo protein transduction: intracellular delivery of biologically active proteins, compounds and DNA.

The in vivo Tat–β-gal studies in mice show that protein transduction holds a tremendous amount of potential for manipulation of model organisms and protein therapy; however, this needs to be tempered until several important questions are answered. First, Tat–β-gal is 120 kDa and requires assembly into a homotetramer before it is active, although it has a high specific activity and therefore, probably requires a low level of protein to detect in tissue sections. The administration of additional Tat fusion proteins to model organisms that generate phenotypic changes is necessary to get a sense of how much potential in vivo protein transduction really holds.Second, the immunogenicity of transduced proteins is a significant and currently unknown concern. Although future protein therapies will probably comprise proteins that are ∼99% of human origin, the PTD might be antigenic or other aspects of the delivery might initiate an immune response. Several variations of PTDs have been described and therefore an immune response to one PTD might be engineered by alteration of anchor residues or TCR recognition motifs on the PTD to reduce or avoid major histocompatibility complex (MHC) presentation. However, what does the immune system do when all antigen-presenting cells (including macrophages, and T and B cells) are presenting the same foreign antigen? This presents a unique unanswered immunological question. One qualitative piece of evidence does exist; we injected mice once a day for 14 consecutive days with Tat–GFP protein and we failed to see any gross signs of a severe immune response. This observation also suggests that continuous transduction of proteins into all cells of a mouse, including into the brain, are not detrimental to viability.Lastly, transduced proteins appear to be cleared from the body not by conventional mechanisms, but based on the half-life of the protein. Therefore, the half-life of the PTD fusion proteins could be extended or shortened depending on the specific application. The most exciting aspect of this technology is the previously unheard-of ability to address specific mutations and deletions of certain disease-causing genes. We look forward to being able to restore tumour suppressor function or interfere with various oncogenic pathways using this technology in the coming years.
Propagation of quasiplane acoustic waves along an impedance boundary

The parabolic approximation for the acoustic equations of motion is applied to the study of the sound field generated by a time harmonic plane wave at grazing incidence to a finite impedance boundary. The resulting equations possess a solution that may be expressed in terms of the complementary error function. Asymptotic expansion of this solution for field points near the boundary provides results compatible with those for a point source on the boundary for both the soft boundary (finite impedance) and hard boundary (the limit in which the impedance becomes infinite) cases. The presence of a surface wave in the solution is also established.
Lipid-based nanodiscs as models for studying mesoscale coalescence – a transport limited case

Lipid-based nanodiscs (bicelles) are able to form in mixtures of long- and short-chain lipids. Initially, they are of uniform size but grow upon dilution. Previously, nanodisc growth kinetics have been studied using time-resolved small angle neutron scattering (SANS), a technique which is not well suited for probing their change in size immediately after dilution. To address this, we have used dynamic light scattering (DLS), a technique which permits the collection of useful data in a short span of time after dilution of the system. The DLS data indicate that the negatively charged lipids in nanodiscs play a significant role in disc stability and growth. Specifically, the charged lipids are most likely drawn out from the nanodiscs into solution, thereby reducing interparticle repulsion and enabling the discs to grow. We describe a population balance model, which takes into account Coulombic interactions and adequately predicts the initial growth of nanodiscs with a single parameter – i.e., surface potential. The results presented here strongly support the notion that the disc coalescence rate strongly depends on nanoparticle charge density. The present system containing low-polydispersity lipid nanodiscs serves as a good model for understanding how charged discoidal micelles coalesce.
Application Of Lasers To Measure The Optical, Thermal And Mechanical Properties Of Materials

The advent of the laser has had a profound effect in most areas of scientific and technological research. A particularly fertile area of application is in the measurement of the optical, thermal, and mechanical properties of materials. This paper discusses the application of laser measuring techniques in the fields of Raman spectroscopy, optical surface scatter, interferometry and optical testing, dimensional stability measurements, microyield and microcreep studies, thermal expansion coefficient measurements, and transient thermal phenomena in optical materials. In these areas of materials measurement, all of the laser's characteristics-temporal and spatial coherence, frequency tunability, collimation, polarization, and high brightness--have been usefully exploited at wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the far infrared.© (1977) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Water Distribution in a Fragipan Soil during the Growing Season

The resistance to penetration developed during the formation of fragipan horizons effectively excludes plant roots from the water stored in this zone. Thus, plant roots are believed to be restricted to the use of water stored in the profile between the fragipan and soil surface. This study was conducted to determine if fragipan horizons contribute water to plant rooting zones during the growing season. Twelve experimental field plots were installed at each of three sites situated on Grenada silt loam (fine-silty, mixed, active, thermic Glossic Fragiudalfs). Based on relative depths to the fragipan horizon, these three sites represented slight, moderate, and severely eroded phases of the soil. Access tubes were inserted to a depth of 30.5 cm below the fragipan surface on six of the plots at each site. Water contents were measured weekly by a combination of gravimetric and neutron probe methods from the 1984 through the 1987 growing seasons. Results indicate that the fragipan horizons contributed water to the overlying profile each growing season at all three sites. The extent of water loss from the fragipan was determined by its proximity to the soil surface. For the four growing seasons, the fragipan horizon contributed on average 15.6% of the water lost at the severely eroded site,compared with 5.5 and 6.1% at the slightly and moderately eroded sites, respectively. These results suggest that plants grown on soils with fragipan horizons have indirect access to water stored in that zone. Consequently, yield data from such studies must be carefully interpreted when comparing sites with a range of depths to fragipan.
Teaching Discussion Skills: A Pragmatic Approach.

The emphasis on real communication in the classroom calls for a reevaluation of the student's role and needs as conversational partner. This article explores the verbal and behavioral strategies needed to participate with ease and confidence in conversation. Observation and analysis of seminar-type discussions between native speakers and listeners serve as a basis for a tentative classification of discussion functions and their rhetorical markers. The article gives suggestions for applying these observations to the teaching of discussion skills in both French and German classes.
Unsuccessful treatment results in survival of less virulent genotypes of Helicobacter pylori in Colombian patients

TO THE EDITOR: Virulence-associated genotypes of Helicobacter pylori are increasingly recognized as determinants of the clinical outcome of the infection (1). In some series, patients with peptic ulcer disease have been predominantly infected with the vacA s1 and cagA-positive strains, whereas the s2/m2 and cagA-negative strains were more frequent in patients with nonulcer dyspepsia (2). A high degree of colinearity in the distribution of cagA-positive and vacA s1 genotypes has been reported (3). These determinants are important considerations in deciding who should be treated. Although major improvements have been made in the efficacy of treatment regimes, virtually all of them result in some failures to eradicate the infection. In the present study, we evaluate the effects of treatment failure on the H. pylori strains colonizing the stomach.
Bearing Capacity of Simulated Lunar Surfaces in Vacuum

The static bearing capacity of a granular material consisting of dry, crushed olivine basalt was determined in air and in a 10^(-6) mm Hg vacuum by means of cylindrical probes with a range of diameters. Samples with various particle size distributions (all below 35 mesh) were used for these tests. It was found that the packing density of these granular materials was the factor which had the greatest effect on the bearing capacity. The minimum bearing capacity of a loosely packed sample with a density of 1.25 g/cm^3 was about 0.1 kg/cm^2. The maximum bearing capacity of a densely packed sample with density of 2.1 g/cm^3 was about 7 kg/cm^2. The effects of vacuum were insignificant compared with the effect of packing density. Direct shear tests indicated the cohesion in a few densely packed samples to be 1-2 X 10^4 dynes/cm^2. For the small probes used, the cohesion was estimated to contribute 85 to 95% of the observed bearing capacity for the densely packed samples, but much less for the loosely packed samples.
Lesion induced new neuron incorporation in the adult hypothalamus of the avian brain

Cell loss in most adult vertebrate brain regions is thought to be irreversible. Here, we explore the effects of electrolytic lesions on the induction of cell proliferation and newborn neurons in the ventromedial nuclei (VMN) of the hypothalamus in young and adult ring doves. The hypothalamus does not normally recruit new neurons. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and tritiated thymidine ([3H]Thy) were used to identify cells born before and after bilateral electrolytic lesions. Hu and NeuN were used to identify neurons. TUNEL test for apoptosis and 3A7 antibodies were used to identify morphological changes of pre-existing cells. Lesions produced significantly more newborn cells in the subventricular zone (SVZ). The rate of cell proliferation peaked at 7-14 days postlesion. A fraction of these newborn cells were neuronal precursor and began to migrate away along the radial glial fibers 2 weeks after lesion. During this period, the outer area of the lesion site was marked with massive apoptosis and re-expression of radial glial-like fibers. In birds that survived 5 months, we found newly differentiated neurons in the outer area of the lesion site. We conclude that electrolytic lesion can invoke neuronal recruitment in the adult hypothalamus. We further suggest that lesion-induced apoptosis and re-expression of developmental mechanisms might be involved in the recruitment process.
Translocation as a tool for conserving imperiled fishes: Experiences in western United States

Abstract Conservation efforts for imperiled fishes in western United States have included numerous translocations, either among natural localities or from nature to propagation facilities then back into nature. The goal has been to increase population size and dispersion while maintaining genetic diversity, thus increasing probability of survival. Environmental laws governing translocations of fishes for conservation purposes involve complexities often equally as difficult to cope with as the biological problems of species' endangerment. Translocations perceived not to impinge on resource use or proprietary rights may be readily approved, while those which interfere with actual or projected development may meet strong resistance. Major biological considerations include the suitability and security of transplant sites (assurances that each meets a taxon's life-history and other requirements) and appropriateness of transplanted individuals (genetic and population structure, sufficient numbers of individuals, freedom from disease, etc.) for establishing new populations. Success of translocation is difficult to define and major inadequacies exist in information exchange — the latter can be remedied by publication in the peer-reviewed literature. It is anticipated that fish translocations and the technology required to support them will expand along with future needs and desires to re-establish native biotic elements in depleted communities and ecosystems.
A Multiresolution Weak-Lensing Mass Reconstruction Method

Motivated by the limitations encountered with the commonly used direct reconstruction techniques of producing mass maps, we have developed a multiresolution maximum likelihood reconstruction method for producing two-dimensional mass maps using weak gravitational lensing data. To utilize all the shear information, we employ an iterative inverse method with a properly selected regularization coefficient which fits the deflection potential at the position of each galaxy. By producing mass maps with multiple resolutions in the different parts of the observed field, we can achieve a comparable level of signal to noise by increasing the resolution in regions of higher distortions or regions with an overdensity of background galaxies. In addition, we are able to better study the substructure of the massive clusters at a resolution which is not attainable in the rest of the observed field. We apply our method to the simulated data and to a 4 deg2 field obtained by the Deep Lens Survey.
Coherent excitations of a 1-dimensional molecular lattice with mass variation

Abstract We have performed molecular dynamics calculations on a 1-dimensional lattice using a Lennard-Jones potential between nearest neighbors. A standard isokinetic molecular dynamics technique is used to keep the average temperature at 310 K. The quality of a traveling coherent excitation along the lattice is studied as function of the excitation energy for different distributions of the molecular masses.
STOCK PRICE PROCESSES WITH DISCONTINUOUS TIME PATHS: AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION

This paper discusses the statistical properties of a mixed stochastic process and conducts a thorough empirical test of the process for an extensive group of common stocks and portfolios of stocks. It is found that a homogeneous diffusion process does not adequately describe stock price fluctuations and that there are significant discontinuities in the sample paths of stock prices. This result holds for both individual stocks and portfolios of various sizes. The statistical fit of a particular mixed diffusion-jump process to sample data is also demonstrated.
Substance use among a regional sample of female nurses

We assessed the prevalence of licit (e.g. alcohol) and illicit (e.g. cocaine) drug use, as well as prescription (e.g. tranquillizers) and over-the-counter medications (e.g. analgesics), in a regional sample of female nurses. Surveys were mailed to a random sample of 4000 nurses in Western New York. The survey focused on lifetime and current use of substances, negative consequences of alcohol consumption and dependence. Three mailings resulted in a return of 2400 (60%) surveys, of which 1951 (49%) were usable. We examined lifetime and current use in each of the four classes of substances in the context of nursing related-factors (e.g. type of nurse, nursing specialty, work setting) and demographic characteristics (e.g. age, marital status). There were significant differences within each of the different groupings. Lifetime experience of negative consequences were relatively rare and few nurses reported dependence on substances other than tobacco and caffeine.