cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Two Digestive Techniques for Preparation of Vascular Elastic Networks for SEM Observation

Two digestion procedures are now available to expose and isolate networks of vascular elastic fibers for three-dimensional SEM observation. This study was designed to observe and elucidate the differences between the two types of digestion (sodium hydroxide vs. formic acid) and the differences between the two types of dehydration (ethanol-critical-point drying vs. freeze drying) used in each procedure. Canine venous valve segments, containing delicate networks of elastic fibers, and femoral arteries, containing large elastic lamellae, were used to compare the effects of the digestion and dehydration procedures on two types of vessels with different content and organization of elastic tissue. Results indicated there was no significant difference in the architecture of the elastic networks of either vessel based on the method of digestion. The major architectural changes in the elastic networks occurred as a result of the dehydration procedure used following digestion. Freeze drying is probably the best for arterial specimens due to their prominent lamellae, which give added support to maintain their normal architecture. It is suggested that both methods of dehydration be used on corresponding venous specimens containing delicate elastic networks. In this way, the investigator can benefit from the advantages of each method and overcome their respective disadvantages to get a more accurate picture of the three-dimensional architecture of these delicate networks.
ASYMMETRY OF AFTEREFFECTS IN THE UPPER AND LOWER VISUAL FIELDS.

The movement aftereffect was used to study the asymmetry of aftereffects in the median plane. The results show significantly greater aftereffects in the lower part of the visual field as compared w...
AC Bolometer Theory and Measurements of Kinetic Inductance Bolometer-Resonators

AC bolometer theory is built on the established matrix formalism for quantum calorimeters and bolometers. The bolometer is represented by a 3 × 3 matrix with complex valued parameters. The bolometer matrix is used to model the behavior of the devices including the response to signal and noise, feedback, pulse response times, stability, and bolometer impedance. The effects of a current dependent bolometer impedance are included. The matrix simplifies theoretical computations of AC devices, including demodulation and the interactions between signals at different frequencies. This theory is applied to measurements of bolometers, each consisting of a kinetic inductance device suspended on a silicon nitride membrane. These measurements and analysis facilitate the optimization of the design and performance of these novel AC bolometers.
The measurement of toluene dioxygenase activity in biofilm culture of Pseudomonas putida F1.

Abstract Toluene dioxygenase (Tod) enzyme activity can be measured by the conversion of indole to indigo. Indigo is measured spectrophotometrically at 600 nm. However, this method is inadequate to measure the whole-cell enzyme activity when interference by suspended biomass is present. Indoxyl is a highly fluorescent intermediate in the conversion of indole to indigo by Tod. A fluorescence-based assay was developed and applied to monitor Tod activity in whole cells of Pseudomonas putida F1 biofilm from a continuously operated biofilter. Suspended growth studies with pure cultures indicated that indoxyl, as measured by fluorescence, correlated with indigo production (r2=0.89) as measured by spectrophotometry. Whole-cell enzyme activity was followed during growth on a minimal medium containing toluene. The maximum normalized whole cell enzyme activity of 19±1.5×10−4 mg indigo (mg protein)−1 min−1 was reached during early stationary phase. P. putida F1 cells from a biofilm grown on vapor phase toluene had a normalized whole-cell enzyme activity of 5.0±0.2×10−4 mg indigo (mg protein)−1 min−1. The half-life of whole-cell enzyme activity was estimated to be between 5·5 and 8 h in both suspended and biofilm growth conditions.
Costs and benefits of urban erosion and sediment control: The North Carolina experience

The EPA’s new nonpoint source pollution control requirements will soon institutionalize urban erosion and sediment pollution control practices nationwide. The public and private sector costs and social benefits associated with North Carolina’s program (one of the strongest programs in the country in terms of implementation authority, staffing levels, and comprehensiveness of coverage) are examined to provide general policy guidance on questions relating to the likely burden the new best management practices will have on the development industry, the likely costs and benefits of such a program, and the feasibility of running a program on a cost recovery basis. We found that urban erosion and sediment control requirements were not particularly burdensome to the development industry (adding about 4% on average to development costs). Public-sector program costs ranged between $2.4 and $4.8 million in fiscal year 1989. Our contingent valuation survey suggests that urban households in North Carolina are willing to pay somewhere between $7.1 and $14.2 million a year to maintain current levels of sediment pollution control. Our benefit-cost analysis suggests that the overall ratio is likely to be positive, although a definitive figure is elusive. Lastly, we found that several North Carolina localities have cost recovery fee systems that are at least partially self-financing.
Maps and Political Power: A Cultural Interpretation of the Maps in The Gazetteer of Jiankang Prefecture

Historians of cartography have recently expressed a greater interest in the relationship between maps and culture and society. This paper examines how political power is reflected in the maps in a Chinese gazetteer from 1261, The Gazetteer of Jiankang Prefecture (Jiankang zhi). It shows how political power influenced the production process of the gazetteer and how this power is reflected in the selection of maps and images. Political power controlled the entire production process of the gazetteer and its maps. According to the local governor’s instructions, Zhou Yinghe, the major author of the gazetteer, proposed four principles on how to compile the gazetteer. These principles clearly reveal control by the government in the compiling process. The emperor’s power was evidently emphasized in these maps through map selection, cartographic design, and symbolization. This paper supports the general notion that maps are not only geographical representations of the spatial world but can also be viewed as cultural images that reflect the societies in which they are produced.
A novel control principle for all-electric ship power systems

Power system of the all-electric ship (AES) constitutes an autonomous microgrid employing a variety of distributed energy resources, energy storage devices, and power electronic converters. Innovative strategies are required to ensure flexible and reconfigurable power delivery, robust fault management, and improved power quality. In this paper, a novel approach to voltage control in AES power systems is proposed for radical efficiency increase. In contrast to microgrids emulating the land-based electricity grid, maintaining a steady bus voltage is no longer an objective here. On the contrary, the voltage is compelled to fluctuate in order to minimize switching losses in power electronic converters feeding the loads.
Dirac theory of ring-shaped electron distributions in atoms

The time-dependent Dirac equation is solved numerically on a space-time grid for an atom in a strong static magnetic field and a laser field. The resonantly induced relativistic motion of the atomic electron leads to a ringlike spatial probability density similar to the features that have been recently predicted [Wagner, Su, and Grobe, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 3282 (2000)] based on a phase-space method. We further demonstrate that spin-orbit coupling for a fast-moving electron in such an atom becomes significant and the time dependence of the spin can dephase even if initially aligned parallel to the direction of the static magnetic field.
Sensitized phosphorescence: a gas phase molecular mixing diagnostic

The use of sensitized phosphorescence for visualization of gas phase fluid mixing and the requirements for quantitative imaging measurements are discussed. A model for estimating the molecular-mixing signal's dependence on fluid composition is developed and candidate molecular reactants are considered within the framework of the model. Experiments based on sensitized phosphorescence from both an acetonebiacetyl system and a toluene-biacetyl system show good qualitative agreement with modeled results. It is concluded that quantitative measurements using sensitized phosphorescence are feasible.
Recursive Boolean Algebras with Recursive Atoms

A Boolean algebra (henceforth abbreviated B.A.) is said to be recursive if B is a recursive subset of the natural numbers N and the operations ∧ (meet), ∨ (join), and ¬ (complement) are partial recursive. Let denote the set of atoms of and denote the ideal generated by the atoms of . Given recursive B.A.s and , we write ≈ if is isomorphic to and ≈ r if is recursively isomorphic to , i.e., if there is a partial recursive isomorphism from onto . Recursive B.A.s have been studied by several authors including Ershov [2], Fiener [3], [4], Goncharov [5], [6], [7], LaRoche [8], Nurtazin [7], and the author [10], [11]. This paper continues a study of the recursion theoretic relationships among , , and the recursive isomorphism type of a recursive B.A. we started in [11]. We refer the reader to [11] for any unexplained notation and definitions. In [11], we were mainly concerned with the possible recursion theoretic properties of the set of atoms in recursive B.A.s. We found that even if we insist that be recursive, there is considerable freedom for the properties of . For example, we showed that if is a recursive B.A. such that is recursive and is infinite, then (i) there exists a recursive B.A. such that and both and are recursive and (ii) for any nonzero r.e. degree δ , there exist recursive B.A.s , , … such that for each i , is of degree δ , is recursive, is immune if i is even and is not immune if i is odd, and no two B.A.s in the sequence are recursively isomorphic.
Phasing in iodine for structure determination.

A new method for solving X-ray crystal structures relies on the introduction of iodine into proteins in the form of p-iodophenylalanine.
Plasma concentrations after rectal administration of acetaminophen in preterm neonates

Acetaminophen is frequently administered to infants and children for its antipyretic and analgesic properties. Oral administration is the route of choice in daily practice. In some circumstances this is impractical. Rectal administration of acetaminophen is an alternative route. This study measures plasma concentrations following rectal administration of acetaminophen 20 mg.kg-1 (10% Infants' Tylenol Drops, McNeil Consumer Product Co., diluted with an equal volume of sterile water) in five preterm neonates. Serial arterial blood samples were obtained at 0, 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240 min. Pharmacokinetic parameters were (mean +/- SD): Cmax (maximum plasma concentration) of 8.38 +/- 3.92 micrograms.ml-1 and Tmax (time to reach maximum plasma concentration) of 78.0 +/- 40.2 min. Our results show that 20 mg.kg-1 of acetaminophen rectally results in low plasma levels in preterm neonates.
Synthesis and structure of some group VII 1,2-diacyl cyclopentadiene complexes and their pyridazine derivatives

A series of 1,2-diacyl cyclopentadienyl tricarbonyl manganese and rhenium complexes, [M(CO)3{η5-1,2-C5H3(CO-(R)2}] (3a–c and 4a–b), were isolated utilizing a straightforward, 3-step route. The synthetic pathway began with a 1,2-diacyl cyclopentadiene (fulvene), followed by the formation of its corresponding thallium salt and transmetallation with the appropriate pentacarbonyl metal bromide. X-ray crystallographic analysis and high-accuracy mass spectrometry confirmed the structures of the both the 4-methoxyphenyl and 4-chlorophenyl diacyl rhenium complexes, [Re(CO)3{η5-1,2-C5H3(CO-(4-OCH3)C6H4)2}] (4a) and [Re(CO)3{η5-1,2-C5H3(CO-(4-Cl)C6H4)2}] (4b). Diacyl complexes 3a–c and 4a–b were then ring-closed with hydrazine hydrate to form their corresponding pyridazine complexes, [M(CO)3{η5-1,2-C5H3(1,4-(R)2N2C2}] (5a–c and 6a–b), in good yields (60–83%). The pyridazyl ligands were found to be relatively labile, and recrystallization of the target complexes 5a–c and 6a–b afforded only the free pyridazine ligands.
TOBFAC: the database of tobacco transcription factors

Background Regulation of gene expression at the level of transcription is a major control point in many biological processes. Transcription factors (TFs) can activate and/or repress the transcriptional rate of target genes and vascular plant genomes devote approximately 7% of their coding capacity to TFs. Global analysis of TFs has only been performed for three complete higher plant genomes – Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), poplar (Populus trichocarpa) and rice (Oryza sativa). Presently, no large-scale analysis of TFs has been made from a member of the Solanaceae, one of the most important families of vascular plants. To fill this void, we have analysed tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) TFs using a dataset of 1,159,022 gene-space sequence reads (GSRs) obtained by methylation filtering of the tobacco genome. An analytical pipeline was developed to isolate TF sequences from the GSR data set. This involved multiple (typically 10–15) independent searches with different versions of the TF family-defining domain(s) (normally the DNA-binding domain) followed by assembly into contigs and verification. Our analysis revealed that tobacco contains a minimum of 2,513 TFs representing all of the 64 well-characterised plant TF families. The number of TFs in tobacco is higher than previously reported for Arabidopsis and rice.
Effect of Four Cropping Systems on the Abundance and Diversity of Epedaphic Springtails (Hexapoda: Parainsecta: Collembola) in Southern Wisconsin

Pitfall traps were used in 1995 and 1996 to sample epedaphic (i.e., dwelling at the soil surface) springtails (Collembola) from four cropping systems in southern Wisconsin. Cropping systems ranged from low- to high-management intensity based on tillage and chemical inputs. The abundance of individuals per species and species diversity were analyzed and the results were used to compare the impact of each cropping system on springtails. We hypothesized that the low-input cropping system (i.e., pasture) would enhance springtail abundance and diversity, whereas high-input cropping systems (e.g., continuous corn) would negatively impact springtails. Although some data supported our initial hypothesis, other cases showed that the low-input pasture system did not favor springtail abundance and diversity, nor did agronomic disturbance necessarily affect these parameters negatively. This suggests that factors other than cropping system can influence springtail populations. Abiotic factors including soil moisture and temperature and biotic factors such as springtail community structure need to be assessed before definitive conclusions can be drawn regarding the influence of agricultural inputs on springtail populations.
Phase behavior and microstructure of aqueous mixtures of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and sodium perfluorohexanoate

The phase behavior and microstructure of aqueous mixtures of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (C16TAB) and sodium perfluorohexanoate (FC5) were investigated as a function of total surfactant concentration, mixing ratio, and temperature. The aggregation behavior of both the pure components and several mixtures was studied via surface tension experiments, and analysis of the results using the regular solution model yielded a β value of −19.4, indicating highly nonideal mixing. The evolution of phase behavior from the FC5−water binary axis with the addition of C16TAB was of particular interest. Below the critical micelle concentration or cmc of FC5 (5.70 wt %), the addition of small amounts of C16TAB leads to the formation of large structures, including vesicles, between surfactant concentrations of 2 and 4 wt %. Above the cmc, FC5 forms small globular micelles in solution. The addition of C16TAB to the FC5 micelles leads to an increase in viscosity and eventually phase separation into two rodlike micellar sol...
Response of the Neotenic Salamander Haideotriton wallacei to a Metamorphic Agent

The neotenic, cave-dwelling plethodontid salamander Haideotriton wallacei undergoes only a few minor integumentary changes and loses only a single bone, the coronoid, when treated with sodium laevo thyroxin. Since neither the animal's thyroid nor the supplementary thyroxin is sufficient to effect substantial metamorphosis, genetic factors probably restrict the animal's ability to transform.
The Origin of Mutants under Selection: Interactions of Mutation, Growth, and Selection.

The classical experiments of Luria and Delbruck showed convincingly that mutations exist before selection and do not contribute to the creation of mutations when selection is lethal. In contrast, when nonlethal selections are used,measuring mutation rates and separating the effects of mutation and selection are difficult and require methods to fully exclude growth after selection has been applied. Although many claims of stress-induced mutagenesis have been made, it is difficult to exclude the influence of growth under nonlethal selection conditions in accounting for the observed increases in mutant frequency. Instead, for many of the studied experimental systems the increase in mutant frequency can be explainedbetter by the ability of selection to detect small differences in growth rate caused by common small effect mutations. A verycommon mutant class,found in response to many different types of selective regimensin which increased gene dosage can resolve the problem, is gene amplification. In the well-studiedlac system of Cairns and Foster, the apparent increase in Lac+revertants can be explained by high-level amplification of the lac operon and the increased probability for a reversion mutation to occur in any one of the amplified copies. The associated increase in general mutation rate observed in revertant cells in that system is an artifact caused by the coincidental co-amplification of the nearby dinB gene (encoding the error-prone DNA polymerase IV) on the particular plasmid used for these experiments. Apart from the lac system, similar gene amplification processes have been described for adaptation to toxic drugs, growth in host cells, and various nutrient limitations.
Idiopathic cardiac asystole presenting as an intractable adult onset partial seizure disorder

Abstract Asystole can occur during partial seizures. Conversely, asystole may produce clinical features associated semiologically with partial or secondarily generalized tonic–clonic seizures. Management is so profoundly different that accurate diagnosis is critical. We performed simultaneous scalp video electroencephalographic (EEG) and electrocardiographic (ECG) recordings in three patients who presented with an intractable seizure disorder. Habitual events were captured and reviewed. These revealed similar clinical features and temporal association with the ECG and EEG findings. Idiopathic asystole was detected as the cause in all three. All underwent emergency cardiac pacemaker implantation with resultant cessation of their paroxysmal episodes. If this diagnostic study had been delayed or not performed, all of our patients could have presented as sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Early video-EEG and ECG monitoring is essential in adults with intractable seizure disorders.
Preclinical pharmacology of CP-424,391, and orally active pyrazolinone-piperidine growth hormone secretagogue

Growth hormone secretagogues (GHSs) represent attractive therapeutic alternatives to recombinant growth hormone (GH), given their ability to amplify pulsatile hormone secretion in a relatively physiologic manner. CP-424,391 (391) is a novel, orally active pyrazolinone-piperidine GHS. In rat pituitary cell cultures, 391 stimulated GH release with an EC50=3 nM. The addition of 391 to rat pituitary cells activated intracellular calcium signaling but did not elevate intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). 391 also modulated the effects of GH-releasing hormone and somatostatin on pituitary cell GH-release and intracellular signaling. In nonpituitary cell lines, the ability of 391 to stimulate intracellular signaling was dependent on the expression of recombinant human GHS receptor. Acute administration of 391 to anesthetized rats or to conscious dogs induced pulsatile release of GH in a dose-dependent manner. Plasma insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) was elevated progressively over a 5-d course of daily oral dosing in dogs. Chronic oral administration of 391 augmented body weight gain in rats and dogs. Thus, the peptidomimetic GHS 391 has potential utility for the treatment of clinical conditions that could benefit from systemic augmentation of GH and IGF-1 levels.
Congenital deficiency of nitric oxide synthase 2 protects against endotoxin-induced myocardial dysfunction in mice.

Background—Sepsis can be complicated by severe myocardial dysfunction and is associated with increased nitric oxide (NO) production by inducible NO synthase (NOS2). To investigate the role of NOS2 in endotoxin-induced myocardial dysfunction in vivo, we studied wild-type and NOS2-deficient mice. Methods and Results—Serial echocardiographic parameters of myocardial function were measured before and at 4, 7, 16, and 24 hours after an endotoxin challenge. Seven hours after challenge with either endotoxin or saline, systemic and left ventricular pressures were measured, and the first derivative of left ventricular developed pressure (dP/dt), slope of the end-systolic pressure–dimension relationship (SlopeLVESPD), and time constant of isovolumic relaxation (τ) were calculated. Endotoxin challenge in wild-type mice decreased left ventricular fractional shortening, velocity of circumferential shortening, dP/dtmax, SlopeLVESPD, and dP/dtmin and increased time constant τ. Endotoxin-induced myocardial dysfunction wa...
Rotating sector study of the gas phase photolysis of the 1,1,1‐trichloro‐2,2,2‐trifluoroethane–cyclohexane system

The rate constant for the combination of 1,1-dichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl radicals in the gas phase has been measured by applying the rotating sector technique to the 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane–cyclohexane photochemical system. The combination rate constant, k5, was found to be 6.6 × 1012 cc mole−1 sec−1. Arrhenius parameters for the reaction, are given by the expression log k4 = 11.81 – (9700/2.3RT).
Refortifying Cahokia, More Efficient Palisade Construction through Redesigned Bastions

The number of posts in the initial and subsequent construction of Cahokia's Central Palisade was recalculated using new measurements of the postholes, bastions, and changes in the perimeter of the palisade that resulted from its multiple reconstructions. Application of this recalculation indicates that each construction of the palisade may have used fewer posts than previously estimated. These data also suggest that both the number of posts needed for construction and the number of person-hours needed for construction decreased between 22.5 to 27.5 percent from its second to its final construction episodes, and that the Central Palisade always used wood more efficiently each time it was reconstructed. This may reflect a conscious attempt by Cahokians to conserve wood resources through changing the Central Palisade's architecture.
Structure-activity relationship of ortho- and meta-phenol based LFA-1 ICAM inhibitors

LFA-1 ICAM inhibitors based on ortho- and meta-phenol templates were designed and synthesized by Mitsunobu chemistry. The selection of targets was guided by X-ray co-crystal data, and led to compounds which showed an up to 30-fold increase in potency over reference compound 1 in the LFA-1/ICAM1-Ig assay. The most active compound exploited a new hydrogen bond to the I-domain and exhibited subnanomolar potency.
Behavioral and skin potential response correlations in chronic schizophrenic patients

Abstract 1. 1. Two groups of chronic schizophrenic patients had a sufficient difference in skin potential response wave form to a loud noise so that they could be rank ordered with respect to normal responses. 2. 2. The skin potential response wave form rank order correlated with the rank order as determined by two behavioral measures of the patient's clinical state. 3. 3. No specific component of the wave form correlated with the clinical state. 4. 4. The skin potential response wave form may provide a physiologic way of following a chronic schizophrenic clinical state.
Cardiac arrest during laparotomy with argon beam coagulation of metastatic ovarian cancer.

Background: The argon beam coagulation (ABC) is a safe and effective tool for surgical cytoreduction of metastatic ovarian carcinomas. Case: A 66-year-old woman with newly diagnosed advanced stage epithelial ovarian cancer underwent primary cytoreductive surgery involving ABC of tumor implants. Intraoperatively, she experienced cardiac arrest during use of the ABC. She was successfully resuscitated. The etiology of the arrest was thought to be secondary to a venous gas embolism. Conclusions: The risk associated with venous gas embolism in a laparotomy case is exceedingly low. This is the first case report of venous gas embolism during ABC in a surgical procedure for gynecologic malignancy. Proper monitoring and support services should always be immediately available when using ABC.
Firmware engineering and microprogramming at Colorade State University

Colorado State University is in the process of building a research emphasis in the area of firmware engineering and microprogramming through the Department of Computer Science and the Center for Computer-Assisted Engineering. The primary participants are Dr. Gearold Johnson, Dr. Robert Mueller, Dr. Michael Andrews, several full-time graduate research assistants (including two doctoral candidates), and a part-time graduate student from the Hewlett Packard Desktop Computer Division.
A continuous two-dimensional model of discrete one-dimensional threshold learning

We present a model of threshold learning that represents discrete one-dimensional processes by a continuous two-dimensional process. The model gives us an overall view of the learning dynamics of an expanded range of training procedures, and provides insight for expansion to multidimensional threshold logic gates. The expected performance is measured by learning curves, while the confidence in this expected performance is measured by variance curves. Previous work on the continuous approximation has been restricted to single-dimensional processes. We believe this theory will provide the designer of trainable pattern classifiers with tools for deciding when to stop training.
Copper-binding tripeptide motif increases potency of the antimicrobial peptide Anoplin via Reactive Oxygen Species generation

Abstract Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are broad spectrum antimicrobial agents that act through diverse mechanisms, this characteristic makes them suitable starting points for development of novel classes of antibiotics. We have previously reported the increase in activity of AMPs upon addition of the Amino Terminal Copper and Nickel (ATCUN) Binding Unit. Herein we synthesized the membrane active peptide, Anoplin and two ATCUN-Anoplin derivatives and show that the increase in activity is indeed due to the ROS formation by the CuII-ATCUN complex. We found that the ATCUN-Anoplin peptides were up to four times more potent compared to Anoplin alone against standard test bacteria. We studied membrane disruption, and cellular localization and found that addition of the ATCUN motif did not lead to a difference in these properties. When helical content was calculated, we observed that ATCUN-Anoplin had a lower helical composition. We found that ATCUN-Anoplin are able to oxidatively damage lipids in the bacterial membrane and that their activity trails the rate at which ROS is formed by the CuII-ATCUN complexes alone. This study shows that addition of a metal binding tripeptide motif is a simple strategy to increase potency of AMPs by conferring a secondary action.
Effects of dipolar scatterer orientation beside a plasmonic nanosphere in excitation rate enhancement

Light scattering by plasmonic nanoparticles for enhancing the optical interactions, such as absorption, fluorescence, and Raman scattering have been under fervent study from different aspects. However, the scattering mechanism of a dipolar scatterer (DS) like a dye molecule or a quantum dot in the excitation regime is almost neglected in previous work for being very small. Stressing that scattering though small cannot be neglected in a system involving coupled components, we consider this mechanism in excitation rate evaluation of a generally oriented DS beside a plasmonic nanosphere (PN). In particular, we compare the two cases of radially and tangentially oriented DSs with respect to the surface of the PN. In this regard, the DS is assumed to express the polarizability only along its main axis, thus the induced dipole moment orientation is constant for a given DS with fix orientation (i.e. not rotating in the host medium). Furthermore, the polarizability of the DS is assumed to have a Lorentzian shape versus frequency.
Measuring optical properties of a blood vessel model using optical coherence tomography

In this paper we develop the concept of a tissue-engineered optical phantom that uses engineered tissue as a phantom for calibration and optimization of biomedical optics instrumentation. With this method, the effects of biological processes on measured signals can be studied in a well controlled manner. To demonstrate this concept, we attempted to investigate how the cellular remodeling of a collagen matrix affected the optical properties extracted from optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of the samples. Tissue-engineered optical phantoms of the vascular system were created by seeding smooth muscle cells in a collagen matrix. Four different optical properties were evaluated by fitting the OCT signal to 2 different models: the sample reflectivity ρ and attenuation parameter μ were extracted from the single scattering model, and the scattering coefficient μ s and root-mean-square scattering angle θ rms were extracted from the extended Huygens-Fresnel model. We found that while contraction of the smooth muscle cells was clearly evident macroscopically, on the microscopic scale very few cells were actually embedded in the collagen. Consequently, no significant difference between the cellular and acellular samples in either set of measured optical properties was observed. We believe that further optimization of our tissue-engineering methods is needed in order to make the histology and biochemistry of the cellular samples sufficiently different from the acellular samples on the microscopic level. Once these methods are optimized, we can better verify whether the optical properties of the cellular and acellular collagen samples differ.
SU‐E‐T‐81: Characteristics of Microchambers for Dosimetry in Proton Beam Therapy

Purpose: Small fields are frequently used in proton beam therapy for radiosurgery and patch‐fields. Characterization of such fields requires small detectors. However, proper corrections such as ion recombination (Pion) and polarity (Ppol) need to be evaluated in proton beam which is the subject of this study. Methods: Five microchambers from 3 different vendors (PTW: pinpoint; Standard imaging: A16, A14SL and IBA: CC01 and CC4) were evaluated. Proton reference condition (range‐16 cm, SOBP 10 cm, 10x10cm2 field) was used for the measurements. All measurements were taken in a water phantom using dedicated cable and electrometers. Pion and Ppol were measured for various dose rates (beam current ranging from 0.2 nA to 8 nA). Results: The readings versus voltage for most microchambers are relatively linear and do not change much. Our results indicate that all microchambers can be safely used in lower voltage range (100–300V) except A14SL where signal is abnormal. The data for Pion can be fitted for pulsed or continuous beam that are produced from Cyclotron at very high frequency. It is obvious that proton beam can be categorized by either of these beams and Pion calculated by either equation provides values that are within experimental uncertainty (0.4%). The magnitude of Pion is nearly identical to that of the photon beams. The dose rate change up to 16 fold does not have any effect on Pion for most chambers. The Ppol values are 1.017, 0.989, 1.005, 0.995 and 0.998 for pinpoint, A16, A14SL, CC01 and CC4 chambers respectively. Conclusion: It is concluded that for microchambers 100–300V provide satisfactory reading with minimal (<0.5%) recombination effect. Polarity effect is also in the same order of magnitude as that of the other radiation beam. Except A14SL most microchambers are well suited for small field dosimetry in proton beam.
Effects of epidermal growth factor and Clostridium difficile toxin B in a model of mucosal injury

Numerous factors have been advocated as being paramount to the development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) including hypoxia, abnormal bacterial flora, and by products of enteral feedings. In an effort to better understand mechanisms involved at the level of the intestinal mucosal barrier the authors have chosen the CACO-2 cell line to model the neonatal intestinal epithelium. By growing CACO-2 cells in transwell inserts, the authors have investigated the ability of Clostridium difficile toxin B, epidermal growth factor (EGF), and a model of mechanical injury to alter transepithelial resistance of CACO-2 monolayers. The findings show that toxin B diminishes resistance in this setting, and EGF can alter that resistance drop.
LEUKÆMIA IN BENZENE WORKERS

Workers occupationally exposed to benzene in 1940-49 were followed for vital status up to 1975. In comparison with two control populations, a significant (P less than 0-002) excess of leukaemia was observed. A five-old excessive risk of all leukaemias and a ten-fold excess of deaths from myeloid and monocytic leukaemias combined are demonstrated in the study population compared with controls. These figures under-estimate the true leukaemia risk to benzene-exposed workers, because follow-up is only 75% complete and the untraced 25% of the study population were all regarded, in the statistical analysis, as being alive at the end of the study period. The environment of the workers in the study population was not contaminated with solvents other than benzene, and existing records indicate that the benzene levels themselves were generally below the limits recommended at the time of their measurement.
Acute Necrotizing Eosinophilic Myocarditis with Giant Cell Infiltration after Remission of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Acute necrotizing eosinophilic myocarditis is characterized by acute onset, fulminant congestive heart failure, and extensive necrosis of myocytes with striking eosinophilic infiltration. However, multinucleated giant cells sometimes appear in the fulminant phase of severe myocarditis. This is the first case of a patient with a 1 year previous history of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, who presented with acute necrotizing eosinophilic myocarditis with giant cell infiltration.
Eleostearic acid derivatives. I. Reactions at the carboxyl group

Nine C1 substituted derivatives of eleostearic acid have been prepared and characterized by elemental analyses and spectrophotometric data. The preparation of two additional derivatives is indicated by infrared spectroscopy, but difficulties in purification precluded elemental analysis data. Comments are made concerning conditions for product stability and reaction environment.
Distributed Dynamic Spectrum Allocation for Secondary Users in a Vertical Spectrum Sharing Scenario

In this paper, we study the problem of distributed spectrum allocation under a vertical spectrum sharing scenario in a cognitive radio network. The secondary users share the spectrum licensed to the primary user by observing the activity statistics of the primary users, and regulate their transmission strategy in order to abide by the spectrum sharing etiquette. When the primary user is inactive in a subset of the available frequency bands, from the perspective of the secondary users the problem reduces to a distributed horizontal spectrum sharing. For a specific class of networks, the latter problem is addressed by the recently proposed GADIA algorithm [1]. In this paper, we present analytical and numerical results on the performance of the GADIA algorithm in conjunction with the above-mentioned vertical spectrum sharing scenario. These results reveal near-optimal performance guarantees for the overall vertical spectrum sharing scenario.
Excitation at the Crayfish Neuromuscular Junction with Decreased Membrane Conductance

THE generally accepted mechanism of chemical transmission at excitatory and inhibitory synapses is an interaction of a transmitter substance with the sub-synaptic cell region, causing an increase of membrane conductance for specific ions. Excitatory transmission is essentially a depolarization due to the increased membrane permeability to one or more ions (predominantly Na+) which have their effective ‘electrochemical equilibrium’ potential near zero membrane potential. This system has been worked out most thoroughly in the vertebrate nerve–muscle junction by Katz, Fatt and Del Castillo1. An interesting variation of the above postsynaptic mechanism is described here.
Manycasting: Energy-Efficient Multicasting in WDM Optical Unicast Networks

With the increasing number of high-bandwidth applications, energy consumption of networks has become an important issue that needs to be addressed. Manycasting is a communication paradigm that finds applications in such high-bandwidth environments. To support manycasting functionality in an optical network that is Split-Incapable (SI), i.e., the optical cross connects are incapable of switching an incoming optical signal to more than one output interface, manycasting must be implemented as an overlay to the optical layer. We propose two such overlay approaches: Manycasting with Drop at Member Node (MA-DAMN) and Manycasting with Drop at Any Node (MA-DAAN) which employ Steiner tree routing. We subject these approaches to a static traffic model, and present integer linear programs (ILPs) and heuristic approximations which aim to minimize the total number of wavelengths required to service the manycast request set in an effort to reduce network-wide energy consumption. Through extensive simulation, we show that MA-DAMN and MA-DAAN achieve 25−45% wavelength reduction as compared to a baseline overlay approach which employs single-hop lightpaths to each manycast destination individually.
Re-thinking the emergence of the struggle for South African liberation in the United States: Max Yergan and the Council on African Affairs, 1922-1946

This article is about how African American missionary Max Yergan and other African American anti-colonial activists working through the Council on African Affairs (CAA) contributed to the emergence of the struggle for South African liberation in the United States. It subsumes Yergan's arrival in South Africa in 1922 through the establishment of the Council and its initial campaigns on behalf of black South Africans. My intent is to show that the struggle for South African liberation in the United States developed from transnational contact between African Americans and black South Africans, and that the struggle began not in the United States as is most often assumed but in South Africa under the leadership of Yergan, that the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 pushed Yergan and other anti-colonial radicals more assuredly into the fight for South Africa's liberation, and that the Council on African Affairs was critical to the emergence of the struggle in the United States during this early period. It wi...
Identification of a human delta opioid receptor: Cloning and expression

Abstract The δ opioid receptor is an important target for analgesic drug development. This report describes the identification of δ opioid receptor clones from human cDNA libraries and the preparation of a human δ receptor cDNA in the pcDNA3 expression vector for transfection studies. The cDNA encodes a 372 amino acid protein that has 93% amino acid identity to mouse and rat δ receptors. COS-7 cells transfected with this clone express over 1.0 pmole receptor/mg protein when measured by saturation binding with [ 3 H]naltrindole. The δ receptor selective ligands NTB, BNTX, [4′-Cl-Phe 4 ]DPDPE and [D-Ala 2 , Glu 4 ]deltorphin all have Ki values under 10 nM while the affinities of the μ and κ opioid receptor ligands CTAP and U-69593, respectively, are over 4.0 μM. Agonists show binding to multiple affinity states of the receptor consistent with the presence of G-protein coupled and uncoupled forms of the expressed receptor. The 8-fold higher affinity of NTB relative to BNTX suggests that the human δ receptor is of the δ 2 subtype.
On a generalization of the hopf fibration, III (Subvarieties in theC-spaces)

Analytic subvarieties inC-spaces are discussed. First, a certain kind of closed 2-formdω is constructed. Then, the subvarieties are studied by means of this 2-form.dω may be considered as the curvature form of a connection whenC-spaces are considered as the toral bundle space over an algebraic variety. This 2-form is horizontal in its nature with respect to the bundle structure and indicates, in general, how different the bundle is from the trivial bundle. Because of this twist in the bundle space, subvarieties in theC-spaces tend to inherit the same structure. In this paper, the inherited fibration structure is studied. The most concrete results are obtained when the fiber torus has complex dimension 2.
Retinoblastoma/p107/p130 Pocket Proteins PROTEIN DYNAMICS AND INTERACTIONS WITH TARGET GENE PROMOTERS

The retinoblastoma (RB) tumor suppressor and its family members, p107 and p130, function by repressing E2F transcription factor activity to limit the expression of genes required for cell cycle progression. Traditionally, it is thought that the RB family proteins repress E2F target gene expression through complexing with E2F at gene promoters. However, whereas chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments have demonstrated p107 and p130 at E2F-responsive promoters, RB chromatin association has not been reliably observed. Here we used green fluorescent protein-tagged proteins to rigorously explore the mechanism of RB-mediated transcriptional repression relative to its p107 and p130 family members. The use of live cell fluorescent imaging demonstrated that RB, p107, and p130 exhibit similar nuclear dynamics. Although these findings suggest a similar engagement with nuclear structures, chromatin immunoprecipitation approaches with multiple independent antibodies failed to detect the association of RB with target gene promoters. However, by employing antibodies directed against green fluorescent protein, we could utilize the same antibody to assess RB, p107, and p130 engagement. This approach demonstrated RB association with target gene promoters in a fashion analogous to p107 and p130. Extension of this technology demonstrated that direct RB phosphorylation disrupts promoter association to regulate transcription. Thus, RB is associated with promoters in a manner similar to p107/p130 and that association is modulated by phosphorylation during cell cycle progression.
Greater incidence of depression with hypnotic use than with placebo

Although it has been claimed that insomnia causes an increased risk for depression, adequate controlled trials testing this hypothesis have not been available. This study contrasted the incidence of depression among subjects receiving hypnotics in randomized controlled trials versus those receiving placebo. The incidence of depression among patients randomized to hypnotic drugs or placebo was compiled from prescribing information approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and from FDA New Drug Application documents. Available data for zolpidem, zaleplon, eszopiclone, and ramelteon were accessed. Data for 5535 patients randomized to a hypnotic and for 2318 randomized to placebo were compiled. The incidence of depression was 2.0% among participants randomized to hypnotics as compared to 0.9% among those randomized in parallel to placebo (p < 0.002). Modern hypnotics were associated with an increased incidence of depression in data released by the FDA. This suggests that when there is a risk of depression, hypnotics may be contra-indicated. Preventive treatments such as antidepressant drugs, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or bright light might be preferred. Limitations in the FDA data prevented a formal meta-analysis, and there was a lack of information about drop-out rates and definitions of depression. Trials specifically designed to detect incident depression when treating insomnia with hypnotic drugs and better summarization of adverse events in trials submitted to the FDA are both necessary.
The Aqueous and Non-Aqueous Electrochemistry of Polyacetylene: Application in High Power Density Rechargeable Batteries.

Abstract : Polyacetylene can be doped either chemically or electrochemically in aqueous solution to the metallic regime. The characteristics of selected rechargeable batteries employing (CH) x electrodes in non-aqueous electrolytes are described. (Author)
Mobile ad hoc P2P file sharing

Wc propose two efficient search schemes that use query messages filtering/gossiping and adaptive hop-limited search, respectively, for peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing over mobile ad hoc networks. While the former does network-wide flooding of query messages and is suitable for the applications requiring file update, the latter uses local broadcast transmission and exploits the degree of replication. We compare the first scheme with a Gnutella-like P2P file sharing system [T. Klingberg and R. Manfredi, 2002] in a MANET environment via simulation, and show that the proposed schemes offers less transmission overhead and better scalability. We also qualitatively compare both proposed schemes with ORION [A. Klemm et al., Mar. 2003].
“Happy warriors” revisited Hedonic and agonic display repertoires of presidential candidates on the evening news

Absent from most analyses of political news are detailed assessments of the candidates' nonverbal behavior, which has been shown experimentally to have considerable persuasive influence. Unlike attractiveness and other relatively stable aspects of appearance, facial displays are highly variable and reveal important moment-to-moment information about the emitter's internal state. In this paper we argue that facial displays are influential elements within political news and examine the character of televised candidate displays over four presidential election cycles. The analysis considers coverage of major party nominees shown during the general elections of 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 on the major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). To motivate our hypotheses, we draw on the biopolitics literature that has identified three classes of displays relevant to the study of nonverbal political behavior: happiness/reassurance, anger/threat, and fear/evasion. The analysis focuses on the relationship between the display types shown in election coverage, the context in which the displays are shown, and candidate standings in the polls.