cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hyperpolarized 13 C magnetic resonance imaging, using metabolic imaging to improve the detection and management of prostate, bladder, and kidney urologic malignancies

Approximately 25% of the 2 million new cancer diagnoses in the United States in 2018 were comprised of malignancies of the urogenital system. Of these cancers, 75% occurred in the kidney/renal pelvis, prostate, and urinary bladder. Early diagnosis is beneficial to long-term survival. Currently, urologists rely heavily on computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound (US), and positron emission tomography (PET) to both diagnose and offer prognoses, but these techniques are limited in their resolution and are more effective when cancers have reached macroscopic size in later stages. Recent developments in cancer metabolomics have revealed that cancerous cells preferentially upregulate specific metabolic pathways as a means of conserving their resources and maximizing their growth potential. This has opened a new avenue for early diagnosis with much higher resolution, reliability, and accuracy through 13C hyperpolarized MRI. Preferential cancer pathways can be elucidated through this technique using 13C-labeled molecules utilized for energy generation and tumor growth. As these pathways are identified, targeted therapies are being designed to inhibit these pathways to allow for treatment that is cytotoxic to malignant cells but preserves native cells. In this paper, we review the current understanding of urologic cancer metabolomics, specifically in the kidney, prostate, and bladder. We will review the basic physics of MRI and demonstrate how hyperpolarized 13C MRI offers an innovative solution to early diagnosis as well as creates novel avenues for more targeted therapy.
192 THE ROLE OF HISTORICAL LEISURE ACTIVITY IN STARTING A HOME EXERCISE PROGRAM.

Background In spite of the numerous benefits of exercise, only 25% of Americans are physically active. One obstacle to elevating physical activity levels among sedentary individuals is poor adherence to exercise interventions. Exercise participation in the disabled population is even less as these populations face additional barriers to exercise. The factors that predict exercise adherence and physical activity participation in the MS and other disabled populations are not well documented. We hypothesized that historical leisure activity would influence exercise levels of MS subjects after starting a home exercise program. Study Design and Methods Exercise levels in MS subjects starting a home exercise program were collected from a 5-year study, The Effects of Exercise on Preserving Function and Participation in MS. To determine past exercise activity, we administered the Historical Leisure Activity questionnaire. We assessed any associations between historical leisure activity and change in exercise levels following the start of the exercise program. Results Subjects with moderate to high levels of past exercise history had greater variation in exercise levels during the exercise program than subjects with low levels of past exercise history. Conclusion Greater levels of past exercise history may afford skills to change exercise behavior, but the observation that no subject maintained increased exercise levels demonstrates that exercise behavior is difficult to change.
Effect of noise reduction on cortical speech processing in hearing aid users

Noise reduction (NR) has been widely used in hearing aids (HAs) to increase ease and comfort of listening and to reduce listening effort. However, NR attenuates noise at the potential cost of distorting speech cues. This makes it challenging for audiologists to select the best configuration for NR during HA fitting process. The long-term goal of our research is to optimize HA fitting by characterizing the neural mechanisms underlying the effect of NR. The purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of NR on cortical dynamics during speech-in-noise tasks in HA users using electroencephalography. Our recent study with normal-hearing listeners has shown that speech recognition in low-level noise engaged greater early activity (~300 ms after word onset) in left supramarginal gyrus and weaker late activity (~700 ms) in left inferior frontal gyrus, than in high-level noise. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that, for a given patient, the optimal NR configuration would be the one that can recruit this “low-level noise” pattern of neural activity. Initial results from the electroencephalographic source space analysis will be presented, and underlying cortical mechanisms of speech processing in HA users will be discussed.
Quantification of corneal organ culture migration: central and peripheral epithelium.

This report outlines a method for rapid quantification of corneal epithelial cell movement in a block organ culture system designed to model a penetrating or perforating wound of the cornea. Rabbit corneas were secured over a plastic conformer with a chalazion clamp. Two-millimeter, full-thickness corneal specimens were sampled from central and peripheral cornea and placed in tissue culture. The aim of the procedure was to produce full-thickness corneal specimens from well-defined geographic areas of the cornea of reproducible size and shape without undue trauma to the epithelium. The instruments used for measurements were simple, allowing for accumulation of a large number of observations which could be subjected to rigorous statistical evaluation. This method was used to determine if there was a detectable difference in the rate of epithelial cell movement over stromal cut surface of specimens from the periphery of the cornea, versus the rate over specimens from the central area of the cornea. In this block organ culture system the peripheral epithelial cells migrated more rapidly than samples of central epithelial cells (P < 0.05). This study shows a simple, rapid method for producing and evaluating block corneal organ cultures and shows that the site of specimen sampling must be controlled in corneal epithelial cell studies employing block organ culture. This method will be useful for in vitro screening of novel pharmacologic agents which have the potential for influencing corneal wound healing prior to evaluating these agents in vivo. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 30:2407-2413,1989 Full-thickness corneal specimens in tissue culture (block corneal organ culture) have been used to study corneal epithelial cell reactions and cell movement as an experimental model of in vivo penetrating or perforating corneal wounds. 12 In this type of tissue preparation, the epithelial cells migrating over exposed corneal stroma (and exposed Descemet's membrane) may be influenced by factors released from damaged corneal stroma and endothelial cells, replicating the microenvironment of partial-thickness (radial keratotomy), full-thickness (penetrating keratoplasty), and traumatic corneal wounds. In this in vitro system, tissue culture media can be modulated to investigate the influence of both endogenous and exogenous agents. In the past, this type of full-thickness organ culture assay has been technically difficult to prepare in a reproducible fashion and to evaluate. 12 Trephine knives have been used to remove corneal
MbnH is a diheme MauG-like protein associated with microbial copper homeostasis

Methanobactins (Mbns) are ribosomally-produced, post-translationally modified peptidic copper-binding natural products produced under conditions of copper limitation. Genes encoding Mbn biosynthetic and transport proteins have been identified in a wide variety of bacteria, indicating a broader role for Mbns in bacterial metal homeostasis. Many of the genes in the Mbn operons have been assigned functions, but two genes usually present, mbnP and mbnH, encode uncharacterized proteins predicted to reside in the periplasm. MbnH belongs to the bacterial diheme cytochrome c peroxidase (bCcP)/MauG protein family, and MbnP contains no domains of known function. Here, we performed a detailed bioinformatic analysis of both proteins and have biochemically characterized MbnH from Methylosinus (Ms.) trichosporium OB3b. We note that the mbnH and mbnP genes typically co-occur and are located proximal to genes associated with microbial copper homeostasis. Our bioinformatics analysis also revealed that the bCcP/MauG family is significantly more diverse than originally appreciated, and that MbnH is most closely related to the MauG subfamily. A 2.6 A resolution structure of Ms. trichosporium OB3b MbnH combined with spectroscopic data and peroxidase activity assays provided evidence that MbnH indeed more closely resembles MauG than bCcPs, although its redox properties are significantly different from those of MauG. The overall similarity of MbnH to MauG suggests that MbnH could post-translationally modify a macromolecule, such as internalized CuMbn or its uncharacterized partner protein, MbnP. Our results indicate that MbnH is a MauG-like diheme protein that is likely involved in microbial copper homeostasis and represents a new family within the bCcP/MauG superfamily.
Formulating Simple Structured Queries using Temporal and Distributional Cues in Patents

Abstract : Patent prior art retrieval aims to find related publications, especially patents, which may invalidate the patent. The task exhibits its own characteristic because of the possible use of a whole patent as a query. This work focuses on the use of date fields and content fields of the query patent to formulate effective structured queries. Retrieval is performed on the collection of patents which also share the same structure as the query patent, mainly priority dates, application date, publication date and content fields. Unsurprisingly, results show that filtering using date information improves retrieval significantly. However, results also show that a careful choice of the date filter is important, given the multiple date fields existent in a patent. The actual ranking query is constructed based on word distributions of title, claims and content fields of the query patent. The overall MAP of this citation finding task is still in the lower 0.1 range. An error analysis focusing on the lower performing topics finds that the citation finding task (given publication recommend citations, which is a very similar setup as this year's prior art evaluation) can be very different from the prior art task (finding patents that invalidates the query patent). It raises the concern that just the citations included in query patents can be a biased and incomplete set of relevance judgements for the prior art task.
Centralized Core-granular Scheduling for Serverless Functions

In recent years, many applications have started using serverless computing platforms primarily due to the ease of deployment and cost efficiency they offer. However, the existing scheduling mechanisms of serverless platforms fall short in catering to the unique characteristics of such applications: burstiness, short and variable execution times, statelessness and use of a single core. Specifically, the existing mechanisms fall short in meeting the requirements generated due to the combined effect of these characteristics: scheduling at a scale of millions of function invocations per second while achieving predictable performance. In this paper, we argue for a cluster-level centralized and core-granular scheduler for serverless functions. By maintaining a global view of the cluster resources, the centralized approach eliminates queue imbalances while the core granularity reduces interference; together these properties enable reduced performance variability. We expect such a scheduler to increase the adoption of serverless computing platforms by various latency and throughput sensitive applications.
Association of Receipt of a Housing Voucher With Subsequent Hospital Utilization and Spending.

Importance Although neighborhoods are thought to be an important health determinant, evidence for the relationship between neighborhood poverty and health care use is limited, as prior studies have largely used observational data without an experimental design. Objective To examine whether housing policies that reduce exposure to high-poverty neighborhoods were associated with differences in long-term hospital use among adults and children. Design, Setting, and Participants Exploratory analysis of the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration Program, a randomized social experiment conducted in 5 US cities. From 1994 to 1998, 4604 families in public housing were randomized to 1 of 3 groups: a control condition, a traditional Section 8 voucher toward rental costs in the private market, or a voucher that could only be used in low-poverty neighborhoods. Participants were linked to all-payer hospital discharge data (1995 through 2014 or 2015) and Medicaid data (1999 through 2009). The final follow-up date ranged from 11 to 21 years after randomization. Exposures Receipt of a traditional or low-poverty voucher vs control group. Main Outcomes and Measures Rates of hospitalizations and hospital days, and hospital spending. Results Among 4602 eligible individuals randomized as adults, 4072 (88.5%) were linked to health data (mean age, 33 years [SD, 9.0 years]; 98% female; median follow-up, 11 years). There were no significant differences in primary outcomes among adults randomized to receive a voucher compared with the control group (unadjusted hospitalization rate, 14.0 vs 14.7 per 100 person-years, adjusted incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.95 [95% CI, 0.84-1.08;P = .45]; hospital days, 62.8 vs 67.0 per 100 person-years; IRR, 0.93 [95% CI, 0.77-1.13;P = .46]; yearly spending, $2075 vs $1977; adjusted difference, −$129 [95% CI, −$497 to $239;P = .49]). Among 11 290 eligible individuals randomized as children, 9118 (80.8%) were linked to health data (mean age, 8 years [SD, 4.6 years]; 49% female; median follow-up, 11 years). Receipt of a housing voucher during childhood was significantly associated with lower hospitalization rates (6.3 vs 7.3 per 100 person-years; IRR, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.73-0.99;P = .03]) and yearly inpatient spending ($633 vs $785; adjusted difference, −$143 [95% CI, −$256 to −$31;P = .01]) and no significant difference in hospital days (25.7 vs 28.8 per 100 person-years; IRR, 0.92 [95% CI, 0.77-1.11;P = .41]). Conclusions and Relevance In this exploratory analysis of a randomized housing voucher intervention, adults who received a housing voucher did not experience significant differences in hospital use or spending. Receipt of a voucher during childhood was significantly associated with lower rates of hospitalization and less inpatient spending during long-term follow-up.
Design of organic structure directing agents to control the synthesis of zeolites for carbon capture and storage

We have de novo designed organic structure directing agents (OSDAs) for zeolites that have been predicted to be effective materials for carbon capture and storage. The zeolites were selected for their reduced parasitic energy when used as CO2 adsorbants in a pressure–temperature swing process in coal- or natural gas-fired power plants. Synthetically accessible OSDAs were designed for five known and two theoretical frameworks.
Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)

The treatment of a particular patient’s coronary artery disease (CAD) will depend on the severity of the symptoms and the patient’s pathological condition. In addition to pain, patients may suffer from other symptoms, such as severe fatigue, dyspnea, abdominal pain, nausea and sweating. And in order to understand cardiac pain, one requires knowledge of the interplay between ischemic, metabolic and neurological mechanisms behind CAD. This chapter presents the alternative therapies for stable ischemic heart disease (SIHD) and for acute coronary syndrome (ACS), such as drug therapy, invasive therapy and minimally invasive therapy. Reference is made to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2011 respective guidelines, which recommend medical therapy for chronic stable angina and reperfusion therapy for patients with STEMI.
Postcolonial disaster: narrating catastrophe in the twenty-first century: by Pallavi Rastogi, Evanston, Northwestern University Press, 2020, 304 pp., $34.95 (paperback), ISBN 9780810141728

A humming interest in disaster within postcolonial studies has reached a significant crescendo with the publication of Pallavi Rastogi’s Postcolonial Disaster: Narrating Catastrophe in the Twenty-F...
The relationship between perceptual and motor abilities.

Abstract Eighty randomly selected kindergarten pupils were administered one of four figure-ground variations of a gross motor task in order to determine the effects of the various patterns on the performance of the task. All subjects were administered the figure-ground subtest of the Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception and the gross motor task which involved walking in a lateral direction between the rungs of a ladder placed in a horizontal position over a floor pattern. An analysis of variance revealed significant differences in the error-time performance among the groups. Pearson product-moment correlation techniques revealed significant relationships between the gross motor task and the Frostig test.
Preliminary study of phase-shifting strobo-stereoscopy for cutting tool monitoring

Abstract Monitoring cutting tool quality in the machining process is essential to the success of part manufacturing. To directly monitor the information of cutting tools under the drilling or milling operations, this paper presents a novel 3D imaging technique to enable direct cutting tool geometry measurement. This method combines stroboscopy and stereoscopy, this strobo-stereoscopy, which synchronizes the stroboscopic illumination system with the spindle control system and enables in-situ reconstructing 3D images of cutting tools. For the phase-locked mode, this technique can lock the image of the cutting tool while in motion. On the other hand, for the phase-shifting mode, all facets around the cutting tool will be scanned by shifting the phase of the light signals while collecting dimensional target information. Experimental studies of phase-locked and phase-shifting modes for monitoring an end mill tool and a wood rolling pin were presented. The directly measured maps and whole 3D images on the target tools verify the capability of the geometry identification of the proposed strobo-stereoscopic imaging technology. Lastly, the potential applications of the proposed technology were discussed.
Evaluation of classification methods for identifying multiwalled carbon nanotubes collected on mixed cellulose ester filter media

Enhanced darkfield microscopy (EDFM) and hyperspectral imaging (HSI) are being evaluated as a potential rapid screening modality to reduce the time-to-knowledge for direct visualisation and analysis of filter media used to sample nanoparticulate from work environments, as compared to the current analytical gold standard of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Here, we compare accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity of several hyperspectral classification models and data preprocessing techniques to determine how to most effectively identify multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in hyperspectral images. Several classification schemes were identified that are capable of classifying pixels as MWCNT(+) or MWCNT(-) in hyperspectral images with specificity and sensitivity over 99% on the test dataset. Functional principal component analysis (FPCA) was identified as an appropriate data preprocessing technique, testing optimally when coupled with a quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA) model with forward stepwise variable selection and with a support vector machines (SVM) model. The success of these methods suggests that EDFM-HSI may be reliably employed to assess filter media exposed to MWCNTs. Future work will evaluate the ability of EDFM-HSI to quantify MWCNTs collected on filter media using this classification algorithm framework using the best-performing model identified here - quadratic discriminant analysis with forward stepwise selection on functional principal component data - on an expanded sample set.
Microplastics reduce net population growth and fecal pellet sinking rates for the marine copepod, Acartia tonsa.

Microplastics (<5 mm) are ubiquitous in the global environment and are increasingly recognized as a biological hazard, particularly in the oceans. Zooplankton, at the base of the marine food web, have been known to consume microplastics. However, we know little about the impacts of microplastics across life history stages and on carbon settling. Here, we investigated the effects of ingestion of neutrally buoyant polystyrene beads (6.68 μm) by the copepod Acartia tonsa on (1) growth and survival across life history stages, (2) fecundity and egg quality, (3) and fecal characteristics. We found that microplastic exposure reduced body length and survival for nauplii and resulted in smaller eggs when copepods were exposed during oogenesis. Combining these life history impacts, our models estimate a 15% decrease in population growth leading to a projected 30-fold decrease in abundance over 1 year or 20 generations with microplastic exposure. In addition, microplastic-contaminated fecal pellets were 2.29-fold smaller and sinking rates were calculated to be 1.76-fold slower, resulting in an estimated 4.03-fold reduction in fecal volume settling to the benthos per day. Taken together, declines in population sizes and fecal sinking rates suggest that microplastic consumption by zooplankton could have cascading ecosystem impacts via reduced trophic energy transfer and slower carbon settling.
Therapeutic Inequivalence

Therapeutic inequivalence may be defined as the absence of therapeutic equivalence when equivalence is expected. Generic drugs are regulated in the USA as follows: drugs which are copies of pre-1938 innovator drugs have no requirement for approval before marketing, whereas a major requirement for regulatory approval with generics of post-1938 innovator drugs is that their bioequivalence with the innovator drug must be demonstrated. Specifically, the generic drug is considered bioequivalent if its rate and extent of absorption are not significantly different (± 20%) from those of the innovator drug when administered under similar experimental conditions.
Uncivil Reactions to Sexual Assault Online: Linguistic Features of News Reports Predict Discourse Incivility

Reports of sexual assault have been found to elicit online discourse incivility. The present study employs a computerized coding tool to examine linguistic characteristics of news media that are li...
Connecting the Dots from Professional Development to Student Learning.

Teacher participation in professional development (PD) improved student learning compared with control teachers. Delivering neuroscience as a unit produced more student learning than when the conte...
Meaning of an Anomaly in the X-Ray Scattering of ZnSe

Accurate relative X-ray intensity measurements were made on ZnSe. Comparison of the results with the values calculated from the theoretical atomic scattering reveals systematic discrepancies. The discrepancies are different for the three families of reflections allowed by the structure, and they occur for all observable peaks. An explanation is suggested based on electron transfer.
Phosphate Mimics: Cyclic Compounds

Compounds that contain phosphate and diphosphate moieties are not ideal biologic probes. Not only does their ionic character inhibit cell membrane permeability, but also, once inside a cell, the ester and the anhydride functionalities are likely targets for enzymatic cleavage. Thus, replacements for the phosphate motif are important as enzyme inhibitors, DNA or RNA analogs, phospholipid mimics, and phosphorylated metabolite analogs. To date, several classes of phosphate mimics have been developed that have been grouped into four categories: phosphorus-containing, sulfur-containing, dicarboxylates, and the novel cyclic mimics, which will be the focus of this review.
Optical processing and human vision

Relatively straight-forward modifications of an electronic (TV-like) imaging camera are proposed that allow the parallel recording of multiple bandpass image energy distributions that are analogous to the outputs of pre-cognitive image processing structures of the human brain. Key elements of the system include (a) bandpass spatial filtering by pupil modification of an incoherent imaging system, (b) separation of spatial lowpass and spatial bandpass structures by temporal modulation of the bandpass distribution, (c) detection of the temporally modulated distribution by appropriate camera detector elements, and (d) multiplexing of multiple spatial bandpass channels in the system.
Cavitation-controlled ultrasonic agitator

An ultrasonic agitator has been designed for application in a confined area with a high-temperature, high-pressure, and corrosive environment. Control of this agitator is based on the detection of noise levels and subharmonics produced during cavitation and streaming. Noise signatures of agitation in different liquids and in liquids with particles are determined and discussed. The potential applications of this agitator are in a fluid-mixing device, a homogenizer during crystallization, a cavitation sensor, an acoustic streaming indicator, a fluid-characterization device, and a local liquid-solid heat-transfer enhancer. >
Partial-Wave Analysis for Certain Simple Systems with Application to the Reaction O 16 ( d , α 1 ) N * 14

The angular distributions of spin-zero even-parity particles emerging from a compound nucleus formed by a ${1}^{+}$ and ${0}^{+}$ pair are displayed in a simple form which facilitates parametrizing the differential cross section in terms of partial waves. The method is applied to the $^{16}\mathrm{O}(d,{\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{1})^{14}N^{*}$ data of Jobst et al. to display the resonant partial waves corresponding to $^{18}\mathrm{F}$ states. Intrinsically ambiguous solutions of number ${2}^{lmax}$ are found empirically. The problem of selecting the correct solution is discussed. Data with polarized deuterons are of no help since the analyzing powers are energy-independent (cf. Jacobsohn and Ryndin, who first noted that the reaction is an absolute detector of deuteron alignment).
Full Circles, Overlapping Lives: Culture and Generation in Transition.

Full Circles, Overlapping Lives: Culture and Generation in Transition. Mary Catherine Bateson. New York: Ballantine Books, 2000. 263 pp.
Pre-earthquake displacement and triggered displacement on the Imperial fault associated with the Superstition Hills earthquake of 24 November 1987

Two right-lateral slip events, about 3 weeks apart in November 1987, broke the surface discontinuously along probably similar, nearly 20 km lengths of the northern Imperial fault. The first displacement, at about the beginning of November, was accompanied by a surface tilt representing deep vertical motion or distributed strain. This movement may have been part of a more regional event that also involved the southern San Andreas fault, although the evidence there is questionable. The later surface offset was triggered, probably by the second main shock of the 24 November earthquakes located in the Superstition Hills, about 37 km northwest of the Imperial fault. The maximum observed displacement was less than 4 cm on both occasions; for the triggered movement the maximum slip occurred on a branch strand near the northern extremity of the fault. Pre-earthquake resurveys of short-length leveling lines indicated combined surface displacement and an eastward tilt at two locations between surveys 7 1 2 months apart and 13 months apart; the tilt at Harris Road during this pre-earthquake interval is modeled as a 1.4 cm vertical component of slip deeper than 100 m on a 70° northeastward-dipping fault. Later resurveys showed a marked reduction of deep movement in the time period including the triggered slip, and between December 1987 and January 1988, it had ceased. No definite evidence of surface fracturing was found in the Brawley fault zone during either period of time when the Imperial fault moved. Remeasurement of leveling lines there indicated small, very near-surface vertical components of movement in the northern half of the zone. Elevation changes in the southern part indicated distributed strain and/or movement only deeper than about 50 m. The Brawley zone changes are not fixed in time well enough to clearly relate them to the surface movements on the Imperial fault.
La homogeneización de la naturaleza en la obra de Gioconda Belli

Resumen Un analisis ecocritico de la obra de la nicaraguense Gioconda Belli, que nacio en 1948, revela que la autora suele homogenizar el medio ambiente, tratandolo en terminos genericos como un adorno, sin el conocimiento de las cualidades especificas locales ni de sistemas cuyo ambito abarca lo global. Segun Val Plumwood en Environmental Culture: The Ecological Crisis of Reason , “este modelo promueve la insensibilidad a la diversidad maravillosa de la naturaleza, ya que las diferencias en la naturaleza solo se cuidan si es probable que contribuyan de manera obvia al bienestar humano” (Plumwood 107). Este rasgo de su poetica distingue a Belli del gran numero de nicaraguenses de la poblacion general que si sabe nombrar a muchos miembros de su comunidad biologica, incorporarlos en sus vidas como remedios para una gran variedad de enfermedades comunes y tambien usarlos como figuras muy expresivas de conversaciones cotidianas. Abstract An ecocritical analysis of Nicaraguan autor Gioconda Belli’s work, who was born in 1948, reveals that the author usually homogenizes the environment, treating it in generic terms as an ornament, without the knowledge of the local specific qualities nor the systems whose scope cover the global. According to Val Plumwood in Environmental Culture: The Ecological Crisis of Reason, “the model promotes insensitivity to the marvelous diversity of nature, since differences in nature are attended to only if they are likely to contribute in some obvious way to human welfare” (Plumwood 107). This feature of her poetics distinguishes Belli from the vast number of Nicaraguans of the general population who do know to name many members of their biological community, to incorporate them into their lives as remedy for a great variety of common diseases and also to use them as very expressive figures in everyday conversation.
Spreadsheet method for calculating the induced currents in bone-fracture healing by a low-frequency magnetic field.

A commercially available spreadsheet program is used on a microcomputer to calculate the induced current density and electric field patterns produced in a nonhomogeneous, anisotropic model of tissue by a localized, low-frequency magnetic field source. Specific application is made to coils used to promote the healing of bone fractures in limbs. The variation of the conductivity of the fracture gap during healing causes the induced current density pattern to change correspondingly, whereas the induced electric field remains relatively unchanged. Use of more simplified, isotropic models for the bone and for the soft tissue leads to results that differ significantly from those obtained from the full model. The magnetic field beyond the region of the coils contributes little to the induced currents in the fracture gap if the gap is located near the center of the coils. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Development of an electrodeposited nanomold from compositionally modulated alloys

Electrodeposited multilayers of NiCu/Cu and NiFeCu/Cu were examined for nanoimprinting applications. Layer sizes on the order of 100 nm were deposited and the copper layer etched. Current efficiency and layer composition of electrolytes having different pH values were examined utilizing a rotating disk electrode. Due to large grain growth in the NiCu/Cu system, the bilayers resulted in a macroscopic waviness of the layers. Adding Fe in a small concentration successfully produced straight layers. As an example of the replication technique, the metal multilayer-etched stamp was used to cast the multilayer image in rubber and emboss it in Teflon®.
Is there an association between occlusion and periodontal destruction

C ontroversy over the relationship between occlusion and progression of periodontal destruction has been ongoing since the beginning of scientific studies of dental diseases. This controversy often has been heated. Some respected researchers have stated strongly that occlusal forces are a major factor in periodontal destructions and that treatment of occlusal forces is a major part of the successful treatment of periodontal disease. Other equally respected researchers have stated just as strongly that there is no relationship between occlusal forces and periodontal destruction and that there is little justification for occlusal treatment as a routine part of periodontal therapy. This article presents a brief review of the literature concerning the relationship between periodontal disease and occlusal forces. Additionally, we will review recent research we have performed and compare it with past research findings. We also will discuss our conclusion that occlusal discrepancies are a significant risk factor for the progression of periodontal disease and our reasoning for suggesting that treatment of occlusal discrepancies should be a routine part of periodontal therapy.
Distribution of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) by in situ hybridization in the tunicate Ciona intestinalis

Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) is the key hypothalamic neurohormone that is critical in its role of reproduction in all vertebrates. There are currently twenty-four known forms of GnRH that have been identified, 14 in vertebrates and 10 in invertebrates. In tunicates, the primary structure of nine forms have been identified, all of which have been shown to stimulate gamete release. However, the distribution and function of the various GnRH peptides in tunicates have not been fully examined. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine tissue specific expression of Ci-gnrh-1 and Ci-gnrh-2 in an adult tunicate, Ciona intestinalis, using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and in situ hybridization. To examine the expression of the two GnRH genes, total RNA and genomic DNA were isolated from whole animals. Total RNA from neural tissue (cerebral ganglion and neural gland), testis, ovary, heart, and hepatic organ were also isolated. Results from RT-PCR indicated both forms are only expressed in the neural tissue. We extended these studies using fluorescent dual label in situ hybridization. GnRH expression was confirmed to be in the cerebral ganglion bordering the neural gland. These current data along with previous studies suggest that GnRH may be involved in reproduction in the protochordate.
Visualizing multiple text readability indexes

Many readability tests have been developed to assess the reading difficulty of a text document. However, a typical readability index is a single average number for the entire document, which does not indicate the readability at the paragraph level. In addition, multiple readability indexes often do not correlate well at the paragraph level, leading to variations of readability measurements for paragraphs. In this paper, we propose two visualization methods to present readability indexes at the paragraph level. We use a colored ring to indicate the overall readability index for a paragraph and a Chernoff face to encode multiple readability indexes. Our methods can help readers and writers to quickly identify complex paragraphs for revisions. They are particularly helpful for documents with multiple authors.
The Marlboro Grand Prix. Circumvention of the television ban on tobacco advertising.

COVERAGE of motor racing in the mass media has grown dramatically in recent years. Hardly a day now goes by in the United States without a nationally televised automobile, motorcycle, "monster truc...
Structural studies on a novel reaction product of malononitrile with aβb,δ-unsaturated allene aldehyde

Abstract Condensation of 2,5,5-trimethylhexa-2,3-dien-6-a1 with malononitrile affords an unexpected product, C15H16N4X, ( 3 ), the structure of which was partially characterized by spectral (infrared, ultraviolet, 1H, and 13C nmr) methods and fully elucidated by single crystal X-ray analysis. 3 is l-cyano-2-amino-3-(2-propenyl)-5,5-dimethy-6- dicyanomethycycohexa-l,3-diene in a half-chair conformation. Conjugation of the cis -aminocyanoethenyl moiety leads to intermolecular hydrogen bonding in the crystal. A reaction sequence and its mechanistic implications are proposed.
Carbaryl and 1-naphthol tissue levels and related cholinesterase inhibition in male Brown Norway rats from preweaning to senescence.

Studies incorporating both toxicokinetic and dynamic factors provide insight into chemical sensitivity differences across the life span. Tissue (brain, plasma, liver) levels of the N-methyl carbamate carbaryl, and its metabolite 1-naphthol, were determined and related to brain and RBC cholinesterase (ChE) inhibition in the same animals. Dose-response (3, 7.5, 15, or 22.5 mg/kg, 40–45 min postdosing) and time course (3 or 15 mg/kg at 30, 60, 120, or 240 min postdosing) of acute effects of carbaryl (oral gavage) in preweanling (postnatal day [PND] 18) and adult male Brown Norway rats from adolescence to senescence (1, 4, 12, 24 mo) were compared. At all ages there were dose-related increases in carbaryl and 1-naphthol in the dose-response study, and the time-course study showed highest carbaryl levels at 30 min postdosing. There were, however, age-related differences in that the 1- and 4-mo rats showed the lowest levels of carbaryl and 1-naphthol, and PND18 and 24-mo rats had similar, higher levels. The fas...
A Thermodynamic Study of the trp Repressor—Operator Interaction

We have measured the heats of formation of the trp repressor/operator complex by direct titration calorimetry over the temperature range 10°C to 40°C. A primary strong mode of binding displays the characteristic large negative heat capacity observed by other methods in the formation of specific protein/DNA complexes. Unlike most such reactions, however, the formation of the trp repressor/operator complex is enthalpically driven throughout the physiological temperature range. After saturation of this principal mode, we also detected a secondary weaker binding mode, which we ascribe to a now well documented interaction called "half-site" binding. Although weak, this mode also exhibits an unusually large negative heat capacity change. Since the interface of the proposed secondary half-site binding mode has the same complementary stereochemistry as the primary one (due to internal symmetry), we correlate the negative heat capacity change with the formation of a stereospecific interface and not with high affinity. As in similar cases, the empirical correlation between buried non-polar surfaces and reduction of heat capacity does not account for the large negative ΔCp, nor do crystal structures reveal any further reduction in solvent excluded surfaces within the reactants upon complex formation. We attribute the "unaccounted for" decrement in the heat capacity of the complex to the stereospecific restriction of the hydrated polar elements that form the specific interface. We suggest that the "tightening of soft internal modes" at and near the polar interface of the complex is more important than previously recognized because previous considerations did not take into account the highly hydrated nature of these polar elements and the concomitant reduction in the degrees of freedom of the water structure.
Data fusion enabled networks

High tempo battlefield requirements, rapidly evolving communications/information technologies and the need to include legacy components, call for a system-of- systems engineering approach in the development of data fusion enabled networks (DFEN). System-of- systems engineers are concerned with large scale interdisciplinary issues combining multiple, heterogeneous, distributed systems that are embedded in networks at multiple levels and multiple domains. These issues are also of concern to data fusion engineers because the networks being engineered to resolve the issues are the environment in which future data fusion systems must perform successfully. This paper is a description of a system-of-systems approach to the development of DFEN's. Applying system-of-systems techniques, a DFEN software and hardware infrastructure is being developed The infrastructure is being developed as a capability within a network enabled C4ISR infrastructure, using a service oriented architecture (SOA) and a DFEN specific ontology. Within this framework, important aspects of data fusion system development can be addressed in a process-driven, scalable and evolvable manner.
Homogeneous and δ-doped ZnS:Mn grown by MBE

Abstract An investigation is reported on the growth of homogeneously and δ-doped ZnS:Mn layers. Both undoped and Mn-doped ZnS thin films were grown by MBE and GSMBE using a sulfur overpressure. Photoluminescence measurements on undoped material indicated that high crystal quality was obtained, with band edge emission intensity several orders of magnitude higher than that from the self-activation peak, for a growth temperature of 180°C. Homogeneously doped ZnS:Mn films showed a maximum brightness at a Mn concentration of 3 mol% Mn before luminescence quenching was observed. The δ-doping technique was shown to quadruple the photoluminescence intensity compared to equivalently doped homogeneous material grown under the same conditions. The optimum distance between doping planes for a constant in-plane concentration was found to be 9–15 nm. SIMS studies of the diffusion behavior of Mn into the undoped ZnS layers revealed broad Mn peaks with a FWHM of about 10 nm.
Behavioral Economics and Benefit Cost Analysis

This paper provides a brief review of the theory of benefit cost analysis and then discusses proposals by economists calling for developing a new foundation for applied welfare economics. These proposals assume individual choices cannot be reconciled with coherent preferences. As a result, applied welfare economics must consider a different basis for defining the public tradeoffs to be used in project evaluation. This analysis concludes none of the available proposals meets the needs for policy evaluation with benefit cost analysis. The paper also offers a different explanation for the seemingly incoherent preferences implied by some choices. The last part of the paper reports the results of laboratory experiments intended to evaluate whether market outcomes would allow analysts to discriminate among alternative hypothesis for seemingly irrational choices.
Photoinhibition of smooth muscle cell migration: potential therapy for restenosis.

Evidence from animal, autopsy, and atherectomy studies demonstrates that migration and proliferation of smooth muscle cells of medial origin result in neointima formation and decreased luminal cross-sectional area. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether low energy light irradiation can inhibit smooth muscle cell migration and therefore potentially reduce the degree of neointima formation and the incidence of restenosis. The migration kinetics of bovine aortic smooth muscle cell monolayers were examined using a fence assay. The effect on smooth muscle cell migration of irradiation with monochromatic light at wavelengths ranging from 400 to 700 nm was compared to the migration of cells irradiated with broadband white light or maintained in the dark. Wavelength specific photoinhibition of smooth muscle cell migration was observed; 594–600 nm light reproducibly inhibited migration by 12–29% (P < 0.05). Migration rate was significantly reduced following daily radiant exposures of 1.0 J/cm2 as well as following a single radiant exposure of 0.09 or 0.9 J/cm2. The decrease in migration was not associated with any change in cell proliferation or [3H] thymidine incorporation. We conclude that 594–600 nm light inhibits smooth muscle cell migration in vitro and may potentially be used in vivo to decrease fibrointimal thickening following arterial injury. This application of photoinhibition may be useful in retarding restenosis following angioplasty. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Creating a Phrase Similarity Graph from Wikipedia

The paper addresses the problem of modeling the relationship between phrases in English using a similarity graph. The mathematical model stores data about the strength of the relationship between phrases expressed as a decimal number. Both structured data from Wikipedia, such as that the Wikipedia page with title "Dog" belongs to the Wikipedia category "Domesticated animals", and textual descriptions, such as that the Wikipedia page with title "Dog" contains the word "wolf" thirty one times are used in creating the graph. The quality of the graph data is validated by comparing the similarity of pairs of phrases using our software that uses the graph with results of studies that were performed with human subjects. To the best of our knowledge, our software produces better correlation with the results of both the Miller and Charles study and the WordSimilarity-353 study than any other published research.
A New Approach to Zero-Copy Message Passing with Reversible Memory Allocation in Multi-core Architectures

We present a new Zero-Copy approach for message passing in a tightly coupled, multi -- process parallel discrete event simulation. Our approach is highly scalable and is suited for large scale distributed simulations. A Zero-Copy approach never copies message content. Rather, messages are created initially in a shared -- memory region, and only a smart pointer referring to the shared memory object is passed to a message recipient. The smart pointer can be dereferenced normally, and has reference count semantics allowing memory reuse when no references remain. This approach significantly reduces the amount of data copied between processes and results in considerable improvement in overall application performance as compared to more traditional shared -- memory based message passing. We demonstrate the efficiency of our approach using two distributed discrete event simulators using conservative synchronization. However, we also included knowledge of the Global Virtual Time and the Current Simulation Time in our memory management algorithms, allowing rollbacks and reclaiming of memory that was freed prematurely.
Temperature treatment of plastic scintillator affects radiation hardness

Abstract It is observed that thermal treatment of plastic scintillator can sensitize it to radiation damage.
Speculations about Grey Tin

Groves and Paul have, on the basis of experimental evidence, given strong arguments that in grey tin the valence and conduction bands touch at k=0. This suggests that at sufficiently low temperatures this phase may undergo an excitonic transition. The critical temperature may be estimated from the binding energy ${E}_{B}$ of an exciton: $k{T}_{c}\ensuremath{\approx}{E}_{B}=\frac{(\frac{\ensuremath{\mu}}{m})}{{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}^{2}}$ where $\ensuremath{\mu}$ is an effective reduced mass and $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$ is an effective dielectric constant. From the work of Groves and Paul and of Ewald and co-workers, we estimate $(\frac{\ensuremath{\mu}}{m})\ensuremath{\approx}0.02$. If one accepts the estimate $\ensuremath{\epsilon}=24$ given by Lindquist and Ewald one finds ${T}_{c}\ensuremath{\approx}5\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$K. From group theoretical considerations one finds that the new phase would belong to one of three space groups of lower symmetry and in one case would be weakly ferromagnetic. These conclusions are, however, highly tentative because of (1) uncertainty about the dielectric constant $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$ and (2) the suppression of the transition by small concentrations of impurities. Experimental studies of the dielectric constant would be highly desirable and interesting.